mmm 

1H 






I 



■I 



J wHBm 
HHi 



WmBm 




MB™ 

Hi 




A HISTORY OF ENGLAND 



HIGH SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES 



I!^M o 



■N fl ^ -O 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND 



HIGH SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES 



KATHARINE COMAN, Ph.B. 

PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS IN WELLESLEY COLLEGE 
AND 

ELIZABETH KIMBALL KENDALL, MA. 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN WELLESLEY COLLEGE 



Heto fforfe 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
I907 

All rights reserved 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Cnoles Received 

SEP 23 I90T 

CooynrM Entry 

oa^ 2-3 iqcn 

CL/fesA xxc, Ko. 

fS7<T34 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1899, 1907, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped October, 1899. Reprinted July, 
1900; June, 1901 ; March, 1902; April, 1904; April, 1905 
New edition, revised. September, 1907 



] REFACE 

In offering a new History of England for use in prepara- 
tory schools, the authors have borne in mind the history 
requirement recently adopted by several leading colleges 
and universities. The proposed full year course admits of 
something more than a narrative of political events occur- 
ring between the Roman conquest and the reign of Victoria. 
The student may hope to get some comprehension of the 
various factors that have worked together to produce mod- 
ern Britain. The physical environment afforded by the 
British Isles, the race traits of the peoples that have occu- 
pied the land, the methods by which they have wrought out 
industrial prosperity, the measures by which they have 
attained self-government, all are essential to an adequate 
understanding of the growth of the English nation. Within 
the limits imposed by text-book dimensions we have en- 
deavored to bring out these phases of the national life. 

The part played in the history of the British Isles by the 
Celtic element in the population has been developed more 
fully than is usual, not only because Wales, Cornwall, Scot- 
land, and Ireland are integral parts of Britain, but because 
of the reflex influence the long race contest has exercised 
upon the national character. The European wars under- 
taken by the English crown have been discussed only so 



vi Preface 

far as they affect industrial prosperity, constitutional ten- 
dencies, or international relations. Colonial enterprises, 
on the other hand, have been quite fully treated, because 
commercial development is directly concerned. 

Keeping in view the increasing number of high school 
teachers who purpose to emancipate their students from 
the text-book by referring them to all available authorities, 
we have furnished with each chapter a list of the best spe- 
cial treatises. 

Two new cooperative undertakings, The Political History 
of England, in twelve volumes, edited by Hunt and Poole 
(Longmans), and A History of England, in six volumes, 
edited by Oman (Methuen), will be found of value, although 
as yet incomplete. Separate volumes are referred to un- 
der the name of the author. F. C. Montague, Elements 
of Constitutional History (Longmans), treats of constitu- 
tional questions concisely and clearly. Ransome, History 
of England (Macmillans), gives much valuable information 
in accessible form. A few books, such as Green's Short 
History of the English People, Bright's History of England, 
Traill's Social England, Cunningham's Outlines of English 
Industrial History, Kendall's Source-Book of English His- 
tory, are rendered more available to the student by detailed 
marginal references. The Syllabus of English History and 
the pamphlet on Sources compiled by the New England 
History Teachers Association and published by D. C. Heath 
and Company furnish useful reference lists. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

Physical Characteristics of the British Isles . . i 

CHAPTER II 
Race Elements of the English Nation . . . .11 

CHAPTER III 
Foreign Rule j6 

CHAPTER IV 
The Fusion of Races 93 

CHAPTER V 
The Struggle for the Charter 116 

CHAPTER VI 
The Rise of the Commons 148 

CHAPTER VII 
Dynastic Wars 187 

CHAPTER VIII 
The Tudors and the Reformation 212 



viii Table of Contents 



CHAPTER IX 

PAGB 

England of the Tudors 268 



CHAPTER X 
The Puritan Revolution 285 

CHAPTER XI 
The Restoration and the Revolution . . . .332 

CHAPTER XII 
Parties and Party Government k 360 

CHAPTER XIII 
The Struggle for Empire 389 

CHAPTER XIV 
The Growth of Democracy 420 

CHAPTER XV 
The Industrial Revolution .... ... 467 



LIST OF MAPS 

CHAPTER 

I. Physiographic Map of the British Isles between pages 4 and 5 
Industrial Resources of England . . . facing page 8 

II. Roman Britain 27 

Germanic Settlements 29 

Alfred's England 42 

III. Migrations of the Northmen ...... 58 

Race Distribution in England as indicated by Names of 

Places 61 

England and Normandy in 1065 65 

IV. Dominions of the House of Anjou 96 

London in the Twelfth Century 105 

V. Wales in the Reign of Edward I 135 

Scotland in the Reign of Edward I 138 

VI. England in the Reign of Edward III . . . .150 
Scotland and the English Border, 1 3 14 . . . .154 
English Possessions in France, 1360 . . . .158 

VII. France in 1429 192 

The Wars of the Roses . . . . . . . 199 

VIII. Western Europe at the Accession of Elizabeth . . 255 

The Spanish Empire in the Reign of Philip II . . 258 
Ireland in the Sixteenth Century ..... 261 

X. England and Wales during the Civil War . . .312 

Scotland since 1603 ........ 322 

XL The Netherlands in 1702 . . . .facing page 352 

XII. England and Wales, 1 660-181 5 362 

Ireland since the Accession of the Stuarts . . . -367 

XIII. North America in 1750 facing page 394 - 

India, 1784, 1804, 1834, 1857 . . . . facing page 407 
Europe in 1792 facing page 411 

XIV. England in 1831 . . . between pages 422 and 423 

(Distribution of population and representation.) 
XV. Partition of Africa ...... facing page 445 

British Isles in 189 1 . . betiveen pages 449 and 450 

(Distribution of population.) 
The British Empire . . between pages 458 and 459 

Principal Canals ...,„... 479 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGB 

Engraving of a Mammoth on a Portion of a Tusk . . ,12 

Joly, Man before Metals. 
Primitive Canoe . . . . . . . . . .13 

De Worsaae, The Prim aval Antiquities of Denmark 
Prehistoric Weapons . . . . . . . . 15 

Evans, Ancient Stone Implements. 
East View of Old Sarum 16 

From an old print in The Gentleman's Magazine 

Coracle of the Early Britons 18 

A Roman Galley, showing the Boarding Bridge, etc. ... 20 
Tablet found near the Roman Wall • 22 

Windle, Life in Early Britain. 
Multangular Tower, York, the lower half of Roman masonry 24 

Ruins of Iona Cathedral 32 

Macgibbon and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland. 
Inscription from a Runic Stone ....... 35 

De Worsaae, The Primaeval Antiquities of Denmark. 
Saxon Church at Bradford-on-Avon 36 

Archczological Jo urn al. 
Danish Armor 39 

De Worsaae, Industrial Arts of Denmark. 
Viking Ship found at Gokstadt 40 

Montelius, The Civilization of Sweden in Heathen Times. 
Ancient War Canoe 43 

Miiller, Nordische Alter tumskunde. 

Anglo-Saxon Relics of Gold and Bronze 48 

Upright Loom from the Faroe Islands 51 

Montelius, I'he Civilization of Sweden in Heathen Times. 
xi 



xii Illustrations 

PAGE 

Glass Vases • 54 

De Baye, Industrial Arts of the Anglo-Saxons 

Harold and his Courtiers 66 

William's Fleet crossing the Channel ,68 

The Battle of Hastings 68 

Flight of the English 68 

The four above are from the Bayeux Tapestry. 

Tower of London 71 

Effigy of a Norman Knight in Armor 75 

Rochester Castle 78 

Britton, Picturesque Antiquities of the English Cities. 
Norman House at Lincoln called the Jews' House ... 81 

Gardiner, A Student's History of England. 
Side Aisle of White Chapel, Tower of London .... 84 

Clark, Medieval Military Architecture of England. 
Battle Abbey, Sussex 87 

From an old print in The Universal Magazine 
Keep Tower, Lincoln Castle 90 

Britton, Picturesque Antiquities of the English Cities. 

Seal of William I 91 

Byland Abbey. West End 95 

Lefroy, Ruined Abbeys of Yorkshire. 
Part of the Choir of Canterbury Cathedral, in building 1 1 75-1 184 101 

Scott, Mediaval Architecture. 
A Crusader. The Effigy of Sir Richard de Whatton . . . 107 

From an old print in The Gentleman's Magazine. 
Ship of Richard I 1 1 1 

From the Manuscript of Matthew Paris. 
Exterior of the Gild House of the York Merchants Company . 112 

Lambert, Two Thousand Years of Gild Life. 

Seal of Henry I 114 

Longthorpe Manor House, built about 1235 . . . .124 

Hudson Turner, Domestic Architecture. 
Wells Cathedral. West front 125 



Illustrations xiii 

PAGE 

Wells Cathedral. Dedicated 1239 130 

Conway Castle 137 

Clark, Medieval Military Architecture in England. 

Parliament of Edward I 141 

Bothwell Castle, Lanarkshire 143 

Salisbury Cathedral, built 1220-1258 145 

Seal of Edward I 146 

Genoese Crossbowman 159 

The Black Prince. Reclining effigy 160 

Gardner, Armour in England. 

Richard II Facing 164 

Chaucer 167 

Bakers and Cooks, A.D. 1 338-1 344. Ms. Bodl. Misc., 264 . .169 

Green, Short History of the English People. 

Wiclif 173 

Preaching in the Open Air, A.D. 1338-1344. Ms. Bodl. Misc., 

264 175 

Spinning with a Distaff. Early 14th century. Ms. Roy., 2 B. vii 177 

Spinning with a Wheel. Early 14th century. Ms. Roy., 10 E. iv 178 
Iron Workers, A.D. 1 338-1 344. Ms. Bodl. Misc., 264 . .179 

The four above are from Green, Short History of the English 
People, by permission of Mrs. Green. 

Specimen of Early Cannon 184 

Demmin, An Illustrated History of Arms and Armor. 

Ludlow Castle 194 

Henry VI 196 

After the portrait in the National Portrait Gallery. 

Suit of Full Armor. Middle of fifteenth century . . . 197 

Richard III . Facing 202 

Raglan Castle 205 

The George Inn, Glastonbury 208 

After a painting by G. Arnald. 
Interior of King's College Chapel, Cambridge . . . .210 

Atkinson and Clark, Cambridge, Described and Illustrated. 



xiv Illustrations 

PAGE 

Henry VII 214 

From an original painting in the National Portrait Gallery. 
Chapel of Henry VII, Westminster 218 

Villars, England. 
Henry VIII 220 

From a painting by Holbein. 
The Field of the Cloth of Gold 223 

From an engraving after the painting at Hampton Court. 
Christ Church College, Oxford . 225 

The Tithe Barn, Glastonbury 227 

The Abbey Kitchen, Glastonbury 228 

The Ruined Abbey, Glastonbury 231 

Coronation Procession of Edward VI passing Cheapside Cross . 236 
Autograph of Edward VI 240 

The two above are from Marck, Konigin Elizabeth, 
Mary Tudor 241 

From a painting ascribed to Antonio Moro. 
Elizabeth 245 

After the " Ermine Portrait " by Zucchero. 

Autograph of Elizabeth 247 

Holyrood Palace 250 

Autograph of Mary Stuart 25 1 

The three above are from Marck, K'dnigin Elizabeth. 
Stirling Castle 253 

Winter, Grey Days and Gold. 
Elizabeth's Cradle 265 

Winter, Shakespeare's England. 
Old London Bridge 270 

Marck, Konigin Elizabeth. 
View in Great Friars' Street, Worcester 272 

Britton, Picturesque Antiquities. 
The Ship " Henri Grace a Dieu " 275 

Cumberland, The Story of the Union Jack. 
Drake , \ , . .277 



Illustrations xv 

PAGE 

Interior of a Grammar School in the Sixteenth Century . . 282 

Winter, Grey Days and Gold. 

Timber House in the Corn Market, Worcester .... 283 

Britton, Picturesque Antiquities. 

Northwest View of Hatfield House 290 

Raleigh 293 

Signature of Francis, Lord Bacon 294 

Marck, Konigin Elizabeth. 

Charles I Facing 296 

Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford 298 

After the painting by Van Dyck. 

William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury 302 

From a portrait engraved for The Universal Magazine. 

Hampden 305 

After a portrait by J. Houbraken, 1740. 

Pym , 307 

After a painting by Robert Walker. 

Signature of Pym 310 

Facsimile of a Letter by Cromwell 317 

Carisbrooke Castle 318 

Trial of Charles I 319 

From a print in Nalson's Repo)-t of the Trial. 

Oliver Cromwell 325 

Seal of the Commonwealth 330 

The Ship "Naseby" on which Charles II returned to England . 333 

Cumberland, The Story of the Union Jack. 

The Famous Petition Crown of Charles II 335 

Humphreys, Coin Collectors' Manual. 

Louis XIV 339 

Hampton Court from the River in the Time of Charles II 344, 345 

Law, Hampton Court. 

St. John's College, Cambridge 350 

" The Cittie of Limerick " 352 

O'Grady, Pacata Hibernia. 



xvi Illustrations 

PAGE 

Great Seal of the Union ........ 374 

Interior of the Old House of Commons 383 

McCarthy, Life of Gladstone. 

George III Facing 397 

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham Facing 401 ' 

Victoria ......... Facing 427 

John Bright .......... 434 

Disraeli ........... 440 

Gladstone ........ Facing 451 

Joseph Chamberlain . ........ 452 

Arkwright's Spinning Machine of 1769 ..... 469 

Sir Richard Arkwright 471 

Trent and Mersey Canal 478 

The Rocket 480 

Smiles, Life of George Stephenson. 



A HISTORY OF ENGLAND 

FOR 

HIGH SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES 



CHAPTER I 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
Books for Consultation 

Strabo, Geography, Bk. IV, ch. V. 

Alfred's description of Britain, Introduction to Orosius. 

Green, Short Geography of the British Isles. 

Cunningham, Outlines of English Industrial History, ch. II. 

Cheney, F. P., Industrial and Social History of England, ch. I. 

Ramsay, Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain. 

Forbes and Ashford, Our Waterways. 

The British Isles. — The home of the English people 
is a group of islands, some five thousand in number, lying 
off the west coast of Europe. They look on the map like 
icebergs floating away from a huge old glacier. Most of 
them are mere ledges of rock, lifting a few acres of grass- 
land beyond reach of the waves. Some are so bare that 
they only serve as haunts for sea-birds, many are pictur- 
esque and romantic, 1 but Great Britain and Ireland' alone 
are of sufficient size to play any considerable part in the 
national history. The area of the British Isles is one hun- 
dred and twenty thousand square miles, about ¥ ^ part of 
the land surface of the globe. In extent they are somewhat 
larger than New England, somewhat less than Japan. This 
seems too small a country to exercise a great influence in 
the world, yet the English government controls to-day nearly 
one-fourth of the earth's area. The population of the Brit- 
ish Empire is ten times that of the British Isles. Twenti- 
eth-century Englishmen boast, and with good reason, 
that the sun never sets on his Majesty's dominions. How 

1 Staffa and Iona, Holy Isle, and the Isle of Wight have furnished refuge 
to persecuted saints and kings. 

B I 



2 Physical Characteristics of the British Isles 

can we account for this extraordinary national development? 
Much is doubtless due to certain inherent qualities in the 
English people, but much is the result of environment. We 
must ascertain, first of all, what in the physical make-up of 
the British Isles has contributed to the success of the Eng- 
lish race. 

Relation to Europe. — The most apparent fact regarding 
these islands is that they lie within easy reach of Europe. 
The intervening body of water is nowhere of- great depth, 
— three hundred feet in the English Channel and seventy 
feet in the North Sea, — while at the Straits of Dover the 
crossing is but twenty miles. The British Isles, geologists 
tell us, were originally part of the Continent. What is now 
the bed of the North Sea was once low-lying plain, over 
which animals now extinct and prehistoric men made their 
way. At no time has communication been impossible, but 
it is always attended by hazard. The rudest boat can cross 
the Channel in calm weather without harm, but these are 
tempestuous seas, and such storms may rise as put a man- 
of-war in peril. Several times in English history this " ocean 
wall" has been an effective defence against attack. The 
great Spanish Armada was dashed in pieces on the Irish 
coast, and the all-conquering Napoleon failed to effect an 
invasion of England. In the early centuries of its history, 
Britain was frequently overrun and subjugated by continental 
peoples, but the Norman conquerors may be said to have 
announced England's Monroe doctrine in the eleventh cen- 
tury. Thenceforward the British Isles were not open to 
colonization. 

Accessible from the Continent, yet easily independent of 
it, the English have enjoyed the rare privilege of a free 
and natural race development. Unhampered by foreign 
interference, they have dealt with the several problems of 
political, social, and religious life under conditions com- 
paratively simple, and have arrived at results which, though 
not perhaps ideal or of universal application, are at least 
admirably suited to the national character. On the other 



Commercial Advantages 3 

hand, this isolation has not been such as to prevent Eng- 
land from sharing in every vital impulse that has stirred 
the Continent. The Crusades, the Renaissance, the Ref- 
ormation, the French Revolution, each in turn has deeply 
influenced English life and roused the English race to 
nobler achievement. 

Commercial Advantages. — A no less important conse- 
quence of its insularity is the maritime greatness of the 
English nation. An island people takes naturally to ships, 
since they must venture across the sea in search of all that 
their narrow land does not provide. Great Britain is pecul- 
iarly fitted to foster a race of mariners. Her firths, estu- 
aries, and river mouths form natural harbors, and her 
commercial opportunities are great. On the east coast, 
facing France, Flanders, and Holland, is a series of sea- 
ports in direct communication with these rich and populous 
regions of the Continent. The western harbors, formed by 
the Clyde, the Mersey, and the Severn, look toward Ireland 
and America. During the Middle Ages, Venice was the 
business centre of the Occident, and London but a re- 
mote trading post lying near the edge of the world ; but the Discovery oi 
discovery of America has opened up industrial resources America - 
hitherto undreamed of and revolutionized commerce. Lon- 
don proves to be at the centre of the land surface of the 
globe, and England lies in the direct highway of modern 
trade. 

Britain's commercial advantages are rendered more valu- Forbes and 
able by her unusual facilities for internal communication. No ^ sh ?y d ' ch * 
part of the country is more than one hundred miles from 
the coast, while waterways, natural and artificial, give access 
to the remotest regions. England boasts six navigable rivers, 
the Tyne, the Yorkshire Ouse, the Humber, the Mersey, the 
Thames, and the Severn. These reach far into the heart of 
the land. Toward the close of the eighteenth century cross- 
country navigation was provided by a system of canals. Ships 
may pass across Scotland from the North to the Irish Sea 
by the Forth and Clyde Canal, while Ireland's principal 



4 Physical Characteristics of the British Isles 

river, the Shannon, is navigable nearly to its source and 
is connected by artificial channels with the principal ports. 
To-day the railroad has almost superseded water traffic, but 
the rivers of Britain, the " roads that run," have served an 
important part in promoting her commercial greatness. 

Physical Endowment. — This wave-washed realm is blessed 
by a most fortunate climate. An island climate is usually 
moist and equable, but the British Isles are peculiarly favored 
in that they lie directly in the path of the Gulf Stream. 
The great ocean current is a veritable godsend to Britain. 
Bearing upon its bosom the atmosphere of a subtropical 
sea, it beats against the western coasts, bringing to a country 
of the latitude of Labrador the climate of Virginia. Dublin 
has the mean temperature of Savannah, though two thousand 
miles farther from the equator. The Gulf Stream, more- 
over, brings to this lucky land not merely heat, but moisture. 
The warm west winds break on the mountainous coasts of 
Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, and discharge abundant sup- 
plies of rain. In Galway the average annual rainfall amounts 
to seven feet. The rainfall of England is, however, not half 
so heavy. The influence of a warm, moist climate not only 
upon the occupations but upon the habit and thought of 
the people, can hardly be overestimated. The humidity 
insures the farmer against drought, while in the textile in- 
dustries, notably in cotton spinning, it gives the manu- 
facturer a distinct advantage. The winters are rarely so 
severe as to interfere with field-work or transportation, while 
the wholesome, bracing air stimulates to exertion. 

Industrial Wealth. — In natural resources the English 
race is well endowed. The mineral deposits of the British 
Isles are rich and of great variety, and so placed as to 
be readily accessible. Long before the English came to 
Britain, tin, lead, copper, and possibly gold were extracted 
in rude fashion from the rocks of Cornwall, Wales, Derby, and 
the Mend'ip Hills. In the eighteenth century rich deposits of 
coal and iron, lead and zinc, were opened up and have been 
worked with such success that Britain is now one of the 










<Q 




Political Divisions correspond to Industrial 5 

most productive mining countries in the world. Rarely 
does a country combine such mineral wealth with so fertile 
a soil as that of the British Isles. Wales and Scotland, to 
be sure, can boast only a scanty agricultural opportunity, but 
there are nowhere more fruitful regions than the pasture 
lands of Ireland and the gardens and wheat fields of eastern 
and southern England. Throughout the Middle Ages the 
soil of Britain fed her own people, and furnished consider- 
able quantities of grain, cattle, and wool to foreign lands. 
To-day, however, her population 1 has outstripped the food- 
bearing capacity of her fields, and Britain is obliged to look 
to Australia and America for supplies. 

Twentieth century Britain is the richest country in the Old 
World. Her present wealth is estimated at $75,000,000,000, 
or about $1802 for every man, woman, and child in the 
United Kingdom. The wealth of the United States is reck- 
oned at $94,300,000,000, but our average per capita wealth 
is less, $1235 in 1900. The wealth-producing facilities of 
Britain enable her to support a dense population. Saxony 
and Belgium alone of European countries are more thickly 
inhabited. This surpassing prosperity has a double source. 
It would be difficult to say which of two cooperating causes 
has been more influential — Britain's exceptional advantages 
of situation, soil and mineral wealth, or the pronounced in- 
dustrial genius of her people. 

Political Divisions correspond to Industrial. — The four 
political divisions of the United Kingdom were originally 
independent, and though they have been under one govern- 



POPULATION OF ENG- 


INHABITANTS 


POPULATION OF ENG- 


INHABIT 


LAND AND WALES 


PER SQ. M. 


LAND AND WALES 


PER SQ 


I086 1,375,000 


37 


I82I 


12,090,000 


207 


I38 1 2,360,000 


41 


1831 


14,001,000 


24I 


I528 4,356,000 


75 


I84I 


16,038,000 


275 


I672 5,500,000 


96 


I85I 


l8,O7I,OO0 


3IO 


1712 6,280,000 


no 


l86l 


20,209,000 


347 


J 754 7,020,000 


120 


I87I 


22,857,000 


391 


1780 8,080,000 


140 


l88l 


26,109,000 


443 


1801 8,893,000 


15s 


I89I 


29,001.000 


498 


1811 10,164,000 


175 


I9OI 


32,526,000 


558 



6 Physical Characteristics of the British Isles 

ment for centuries, each still preserves a marked individual- 
ity. We can account for this dissimilarity in some measure 
by race inheritance, since the English are Teutons by origin, 
while the Irish, Welsh, and Scots are Celts ; but even more 
is due to the modifying influence of physical conditions. 
Ireland, Wales, and Scotland have been shabbily dealt with 
by Dame Nature, while England has fallen heir to her 
richest bounties. For example, England has the advantage 
of situation as regards Europe. The mountains of Great 
Britain are piled up in the north and west. Scotland, West- 
moreland, Wales, and Cornwall are bleak masses of rock 
and moor. From these barren heights the rich plains of 
England slope eastward to the Channel and the North Sea. 
Her water-courses cross the country from west to east, form- 
ing natural highways for commerce. Four of her rivers, the 
Tyne, the Tees, the Humber, and the Thames, give direct 
access to the Channel trade. Their harbors stand like so 
many open doors, inviting the products, the men, the ideas, 
of Europe. England may be said to turn her back on 
Ireland and to face the Continent. She is indeed the 
favored sister. The west winds come to her with warmth 
and moisture, but not till excess of rain has been precipi- 
tated on the rugged heights of the Welsh mountains. The 
Channel fogs, it is true, invade the low districts of the eastern 
coast, but they have this virtue, at least, that they moderate 
the temperature both summer and winter. 

England. — Industrially, England is divided into two dis- 
tinct parts. A line drawn from the estuary of the Humber 
to the mouth of the Severn would approximately represent 
the division. Southeast of the line lies agricultural England. 
The rich lime soil and the gentle rivers of this region make 
it one of the most productive in the world. No more fertile 
fields gladden the heart of man than those of the Fen country 
and the Thames valley, while the Chiltern Hills, the North 
and South Downs, and the Cotswold Hills nourish famous 
breeds of sheep. Northwest of our imaginary line is the 
mineral wealth of England. Here lie the great coal fields 



Wales 7 

of Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Derby, Stafford, 
Leicester, Warwick, and Lancashire. They are 1650 square 
miles in extent, and constitute the mainspring of England's 
manufacturing industries. In the midst of this immense coal 
area rises the Pennine chain, a range of mountain and moor- 
land which thrusts itself like a great wedge two hundred miles 
into the heart of England. It is an axis of carboniferous 
rock, and along its barren slopes lie rich mineral deposits, 
iron, zinc, and lead. This remarkable combination of fuel 
with mineral resources has attracted to the region the capi- 
tal and labor force of England. Here are the populous min- 
ing districts. Here lie the great manufacturing towns of 
Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield, Birmingham, and Manchester. 
The centres of wealth and population were originally in the 
agriculture regions of the south, but the opening of the coal 
measures has reversed conditions, and the densely populated 
counties lie to-day north of the Trent. 1 

The Pennine district affords, however, but a fraction of 
the mineral wealth of England. The rocky promontory of 
Cornwall bears rich veins of copper, lead, tin, and clay, and 
supports a large mining population. Many lesser resources 
contribute their quota to England's prosperity. In Cheshire, 
along the valley of the Weaver, lie large deposits of salt. 
They have been known for eighteen hundred years, but have 
only in modern times been extensively worked. In addition 
to its coal measures, Staffordshire once possessed a fine clay 
admirably adapted to the manufacture of earthenware. Here 
Wedgwood and many lesser craftsmen have practised the 
potter's art. The remarkable success of the industry has 
won for this district the name of "the Potteries." 

Wales. — If now we turn from merry England to the little 
principality of Wales, we find a marked contrast. It is a 
rugged, mountainous country, picturesque and romantic 

1 Compare the density of population in an agricultural county {e.g. Berk- 
shire, 253 to the square mile) with that of a mining county {e.g. Durham, 
832 to the square mile) or with that of a manufacturing county {e.g. Lan- 
cashire, 1069 to the square mile). 



8 Physical Characteristics of the British Isles 

enough, beloved of the tourist, but scantily endowed with 
industrial resources. The massive range of peaks from 
Snowdon to Brecknock Beacon is usually enveloped in mist 
and rain, and affords meagre opportunity for pasture or 
tillage. 1 A circumscribed agricultural district lies along the 
north coast in the valleys of the Conway and the Clyde, but 
the best industrial opportunity of Wales is in the slate quar- 
ries of the Cambrian range and the coal mines of the south. 
The coal fields of Wales are nearly equal in extent to those 
of England. That of the Black Mountains is nine hundred 
square miles in area and ten thousand feet in depth. This 
has become the centre of the smelting industry. A dense 
population is gathered in a series of smoky towns, Swansea, 
Cardiff, Merthyr-Tydfil, and Aberdare. From Cornwall, from 
France, from North and South America, from Australia, large 
quantities of metal are brought to the foundries of South 
Wales. But this prosperity is offset by the poverty of vast 
mountain wastes. Wales as a whole supports but a sparse 
population. Her area is one-seventh that of England while 
her population is but one-eighteenth as large. 

Scotland. — In physical make-up Scotland is quite com- 
parable to Wales. It looks but a jagged mass of rock from 
which broken bits, the Shetlands, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, 
Skye, Mull, Arran, are crumbling off into the sea. The 
country is divided into three districts distinguished from 
one another by marked physical features. First of these 
is the picturesque northern section, the Highlands, the land 
of shootings and salmon rivers. It contains two-thirds of 
Scotland's territory, but little of her material wealth. Fish- 
ing and sheep-raising are the principal employments. The 
Lowland Plain is a long narrow valley, which may once have 
been a strait, running across the country from east to 
west, from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde. This 
region contains the mineral wealth of Scotland. Here are 
rich deposits of coal and iron which sustain flourishing 

1 Agricultural land amounts to 76 % of the total area in England, 59% in 
Wales, 25 % in Scotland, 23 % m Ireland. 



Ireland 9 

manufactures. Here, too, are Scotland's harbors and, hence, 
her commercial opportunity. The population of this favored 
region is more than half that of all Scotland. The third 
division is that of the Lowland Hills, Scotland's natural 
barrier against invasion from England, the "Border" of the 
ballads and historical romance. These are monotonous 
moorlands. They lack the picturesque beauty of the High- 
lands and the mineral wealth of the Plain, and are good for 
little but sheep pasture. The Tweed valley is a more pros- 
perous region ; verging on the coal districts of England, it 
shares their prosperity. 

Ireland. — Of the physical sources of national well-being, 
Ireland has but a niggardly portion. The island is shaped 
like a saucer. Along the coasts, north, west, and south, runs 
a ring of low mountain ranges. In the east alone are there 
considerable stretches of sandy shore, and even here, the 
coast line is broken by two mountain masses, the Mourne 
and the Wicklow Hills. The interior is an undulating plain 
with hardly sufficient slope to afford watershed to the slug- 
gish rivers. 1 The soil has a limestone foundation, and is as 
fertile as that of England, but it is too wet for successful 
agriculture and is given over, in great part, to cattle pas- 
ture. Numerous lakes and tracts of bog-land lie across the 
heart of the country and reduce its tillable area. Ireland 
gets the first effect of the warm winds from the Atlantic, and 
the rainfall is excessive. The number of rainy days in the 
year averages two hundred and eight. The climate is in 
consequence warm, damp, and debilitating. Moreover, the 
mineral resources of the country are scant. The immense 
coal measures that originally covered its surface were carried 
away ages ago by glacial action. Isolated fragments of the 
once abundant store are found in the hills, but the output of 
the mines is quite inadequate to the industrial needs of the 
country. Ireland possesses some iron deposits, but they 
cannot be worked to advantage because fuel is lacking. The 

1 The surface of Ireland is 72% arable land, 12% bog and marsh, 11% 
barren mountain, 4 % water, 1 % forest. 



io Physical Characteristics of the British Isles 

mountains contain other minerals, copper, gold, silver, and 
lead, and these have been mined at different epochs in Irish 
history ; but the ores are nowhere so rich as those of the 
Pennine and Cornish districts, and the mining industries are 
to-day actually declining. 

The fates seem to have conspired against Ireland. Her 
rivers rarely afford water power sufficient for manufactures. 
Her natural harbors lie to the west and north, remote from 
European trade. One first-rate harbor lies on the south coast 
and has become important since the steamship lines running 
from Liverpool to America make Queenstown a calling sta- 
tion. England stands between Ireland and the Continent. 
She can control and has successfully stifled the trade ven- 
tures of the weaker country. Deprived of commercial and 
industrial opportunities, the Irish people are restricted to 
agriculture. The population is distributed over the land in 
villages and scattered hamlets. There are but six towns of 
more than 20,000 inhabitants, — Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Lim- 
erick, Londonderry, and Waterford. These, it will be no- 
ticed, are all on the seacoast and owe their importance to 
some commercial advantage. In northern Ireland condi- 
tions are more favorable. The climate is bracing, the juxta- 
position of two such harbors as Belfast and Glasgow promotes 
commerce, while ready access to the Scotch coal district ren- 
ders manufacture profitable. The poverty of Ireland may be 
partly accounted Tor by misgovernment. but it is mainly due 
to lack of material resources. 

Industrial Opportunity and Population. — The compara- 
tive prosperity of the political divisions of Britain is clearly 
indicated by the movement of population. 1 Scotland has 
always been sparsely settled. The population of Ireland is 
actually decreasing, while that of England and Wales has 
rapidly increased since the opening up of their mineral re- 
sources. 

1 Comparative densities, 1901 : Scotland, 150 inhabitants to square mile ; 
Ireland, 137; Wales, 195; England, 437; Saxony, 743. 



CHAPTER II 

RACE ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH NATION 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 

Commentaries, Bk. IV, ch. XX-XXXVIII; Bk. V, ch. VIII- 

XXII. 
Tacitus, Agricola, Sec. VII-XXIII. 
Tacitus, Germania, Sec. V, VII, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XVI, XXI, 

XXV, XXVI. 
Bowker, Alfred the Great. 
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 
Asser's Life of Alfred. 
Bede's Ecclesiastical History. 

Special Authorities 

Windle, Early Jl/an in Britain. 

W. B. Dawkins, Early Man in Britain. 

F. Seebohm, The Tribal System in Wales. 

Mommsen, Roman Provinces, Vol. I, Bk. VIII, ch. V. 

Forbes and Burmester, Our Roman Highways. 

Coste, Romans of Britain. 

Worsaae, Danes and A T orthmen in England, Scotland, and Ireland. 

Ripley, The Races of Europe, ch. XII. 

Oman, C. W. C, England, from the Beginning to 1066. 

Hodgkin, T., Political History of England, Vol. I. 

Imaginative Literature 
Lanier, The Boy's King Arthur. 

The Aborigines or Paleolithic Men. — Of the first inhabit- 
ants of the British Isles we know little with certainty. They 
belong to prehistoric time and have left no record of their 
existence save rude weapons chipped from flint or stone, or- 
naments of bone or ivory decorated with figures of animals, 



12 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



and the heaps of refuse that litter the caves where they 
found shelter. Their life was little superior to that of the 
wild beasts with whom they contended for possession of 
cavern or watering-place. They did not know apparently 
how to till the ground or to tame the animals that might 
be made of use. For subsistence they relied on natural 
products. Fruits, nuts, and roots found in the forest, and 
the flesh of animals taken in the chase, furnished ample 
food. They had learned how to strike fire, probably by 
rubbing together sticks of hard dry wood, and to roast meat 




Engraving of a Mammoth on a Portion of a Tusk 

Joly, Man before Metals 

between heated stones. The men doubtless exerted their 
strength and ingenuity in hunting and fishing, and in mak- 
ing arrows and spears and harpoons. The women cleaned 
the skins and fashioned them into clothing, catching the 
pieces together with bone awls and reindeer sinew. This 
is the most primitive stage of human development. We 
have something comparable to it to-day in the life of an 
Esquimaux village, but the men of the old stone age have 
no descendants in modern Britain. 

The Neoliths. — The cave-dwellers were followed by a 
race of men, prehistoric also in origin, but far more ad- 



The Celts 13 

vanced in the art of living. They provided themselves 
shelter by building hovels of earth roofed in with branches, 
and they secured a surer food supply than nature afforded 
by burning a clear space in the forest and planting it with 
grain. Certain useful animals, such as dogs, horses, oxen, 
sheep, goats, and swine, were domesticated and held as per- 
sonal property. Rough linen cloth was manufactured by the 
women, who spun with spindle and distaff and wove on 
primitive looms. Wheat was ground with pestle and mor- 
tar, and made into a coarse bread. The many specimens 
of earthenware that have been preserved from this era 
prove that the Neoliths had attained considerable skill in 
the potter's art. Their arrow-heads, knives, and axes show 




Primitive Canoe 

a distinct advance on the work of the cave men. These 
were still chipped from stone or flint, but so shaped and 
polished as to be far more effective. The forests were trav- 
ersed by paths like Indian trails, connecting the settlements 
and leading to the water. Doubtless some traffic was car- 
ried on along the rivers and even across the sea. The ad- 
venturous merchant transported his wares in a canoe hollowed 
out of a tree trunk or shaped of wicker-work and covered 
with hides. The Iberians, or neolithic men, were a small 
dark people, thick-set and beetle browed. They burned 
their dead in stone chambers or cromlechs covered with 
earth. The egg-shaped mounds or " long barrows " of the 
Cotswold Hills were built by these prehistoric men. 

The Celts. — Seven or eight centuries before the Christian Traill, I, 
era, a new people made its way across the sea to these west- pp- i ~ i °- 
em islands. They buried their dead in funeral urns placed 



14 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



Seebohm, 
pp. 54-60. 



The tribal 
system. 



Seebohm, 
pp. 82-100. 



under " round barrows " such as encircle the druid stones at 
Stonehenge. The Celts were tall, fair-haired and valiant, and 
well advanced in the arts. They had learned to fuse copper 
and tin, and to manufacture weapons of bronze. This supe- 
riority enabled them readily to overmaster the Iberians, who 
fought with flint arrows or axes of stone. Many of these 
unfortunates doubtless perished in the struggle, but more 
were reduced to slavery and forced to till the soil for the 
victors. The distinction between conquerors and conquered, 
free and unfree, was jealously maintained, and the subject 
race, excluded from kinship with the Celts, remained short, 
dark-skinned, and servile for centuries to come. A remnant 
took refuge in the wild hill country of the west and north, 
and their swarthy descendants may still be seen in the 
Scotch Highlands, in the Welsh mountains, and on the 
barren Atlantic coast of Ireland. 

When history first takes note of the Celts, they had 
reached the pastoral stage of development. Their wealth 
was in herds of cattle, and they moved from one part of 
the country to another in search of grazing lands. The for- 
ests could now be felled for sowing, since the bronze axes 
gave a cutting edge, but agriculture was still of the simplest. 
Little labor would be spent in improving fields that might at 
any time be abandoned in pursuit of pasture. The country 
was held by numerous tribes, each united by the bond of 
blood-relationship, and each recognizing in the head of kin- 
dred a chief or king. The government was patriarchal, im- 
mediate obedience being due to the head of the household, 
who was responsible to the chief for the good conduct of his 
family. The free tribes-man dwelt with his children, grand- 
children, and great-grandchildren in a rude hut built of wat- 
tled boughs, where all ate and slept together around the 
ancestral hearth. The household wealth consisted in cattle, 
weapons, house and field implements, and cloth woven now 
of wool as well as of flax. Private property in land was not 
yet recognized. The district that the tribe occupied and 
defended against all men not of the kin, was a common 




Prehistoric Weapons 

Evans, Ancient Stone Implements 
I, Flint implement from Kent's Cavern (face, C, Stone celt in original wooden handle 

side, and section) (Paleolithic) (Neolithic) 

1, Flint arrow-head in original shaft (Neolithic) D, Bronze axe and handle (Celtic) 



1 6 Race Elements of the English Nation 



Seebohm, 
pp. 101-105. 



possession. Every tribes-man had a right to pasture his 
cattle in the meadows, to hunt in the forest, and to each 
family was assigned a certain portion of the arable land. Blood 
relationship had far more significance then than now. The 
men of a household were not only held responsible for the 
wrong-doing of every member, they were bound to avenge 
each other's wrongs. The injury done to an individual was 
an offence against his family, to be retaliated by the united 
effort of his clan. Such blood-feuds led to endless strife, 
and the intertribal contests to which they gave rise kept the 




East View of Old Sarum 

From an old print in The Gentleman's Magazine 



land in a chronic state of war. Great earthworks and lines 
of fortification may still be traced that were thrown up by 
these primitive people. 

The first intercourse between Britain and the Continent 
may antedate the Celts. The Phoenicians, the most dar- 
ing seafarers of the ancient world, pushed their commercial 
ventures west along the coasts of the Mediterranean and out 
into the unknown sea as far as the Cassiterides. They 
found there an abundance of the rare metal, tin, then 
greatly in demand for the manufacture of bronze, and a 
flourishing trade developed. By many historians, the Cas- 



Intercourse between Britain and the Continent \j 

siterides have been identified with St. Michael's Mount and 
the adjoining Cornish coast, but this assumption is far from 
proved. 

The first European who visited Britain and left a written 
account of what he saw was a Greek mathematician, Pytheas, Pytheas. 
who in the fourth century b.c. was sent by the merchants 
of Marseilles to inquire into the trade opportunities of 
the " Celtic countries " beyond the Pillars of Hercules. 
Pytheas explored only the east coast of Britain and hence 
knew nothing of Cornwall, but he reported to his patrons 
that the much-sought metal was carried by the natives to 
the mouth of the Thames for sale. In the last century be- 
fore Christ, Posidonius, a learned traveller from Rhodes, Posidonius. 
visited the " land of the wintry pole," and he records that 
slabs of tin were brought from the western peninsula to 
an island ' on the east coast. Thence the precious freight 
was taken in open boats to a port in Gaul, carted over- 
land a thirty days' journey to the Rhone, and finally trans- 
ported down that river to Marseilles. 

Late in the pre-Christian era, several tribes of Gauls and 
Belgians crossed the Channel and, settling in south Britain, 
cultivated the soil to better advantage than the more primi- 
tive Celts who preceded them had been able to do. They 
were probably Gallic farmers whom Pytheas saw gathering 
the sheaves into great barns to thresh out the corn there 
"because they have so little sunshine, that our open thresh- 
ing places would be of little use in that land of clouds and 
rain." Up the Thames valley and north along the coast to 
the Wash these late-come Celts pushed their settlements, 
driving the Britons before them. The wilderness was con- Traill, I, 
verted into cultivated fields, villages became populous pp- 8 4~9°- 
towns, and a considerable commerce sprang up between the 
merchants of Gaul and their kinsmen across the Channel. 
The more civilized land furnished salt, articles of iron and 
bronze, together with cloth and pottery of finer grade than 
the islanders were able to manufacture. As return cargoes 

1 Probably Thanet, then surrounded by water at high tide. 
c 



18 



Race Elements of the EnglisJi Nation 



Strabo. 




Coracle of the Early Br 



were sent, in addition to the mineral products that had 
first attracted traders to Britain, cattle and hides, wheat and 
barley, hunting dogs and slaves. The ancient trails that 
ran along the hilltops and sought the river-fords were 
beaten into well-defined 
roads and furnished easy 
communication from sea to 
sea, but the Thames and 
the Severn were the high- 
ways of trade. On the 
banks of each river the 
merchants erected an altar 
to Lud, the god of com- 
merce. Lud had a silver 
hand and gave good luck 
to all who sacrificed at his 
shrine. The memory of these primitive temples of mammon- 
worship survives in Lydney, the name of a Gloucestershire 
village, and in Ludgate Hill, the heart of the commercial 
metropolis of the globe. The Welsh word for London is 
still Caer-Ludd, Lud's town. 

According to Strabo, who wrote in the last century before 
Christ, Britain was a land of forest, moor, and fen. In the 
south, near the harbors and along the navigable rivers, were 
towns and cultivated lands, — the settlements of the Gauls; 
but to the north and west, Nature had her way with the 
country. Two-thirds of the island was covered by a heavy 
growth of gigantic oaks. The Channel coast was skirted by 
forests all the way from Kent to Devon. The valleys of 
the Thames and the Severn were densely wooded, but the 
chalk hills north and south of the Thames were compara- 
tively open. Here, where the land was easily cleared, were 
the pastures, the scant cornfields, and the earthwork fort- 
resses of the British tribes. Along the Wash the tides ran 
far inland, inundating the level stretches of river-bottom 
and converting them into uninhabitable fens. Further north, 
dense forests extended from the coast to the barren range 



The Roman Conquest 



'9 



of hills forming the watershed between the rivers thai 
run to the German Ocean and those that make their way to 
the Irish Sea. The highlands to the west and north were 
trackless wilderness. To the inhabitants of southern Eu- 
rope, the climate seemed cold and forbidding. " The sky- 
is rather stormy than cloudy, and in fine weather there is 
a mist which lasts some time so that the sun is only seen 
for three or four hours in the middle of the day." But the 
land was abundantly fertile, the forests teemed with game 
and the rivers with fish, pearls were cast upon the sea- 
shore, and precious metals were to be had with little labor 
from the western hills. No wonder that Britain exercised a 
potent influence on the adventurous spirits of the ancient 
world. 

The Roman Conquest. — A land so promising could not 
long escape the attention of the Romans, the world con- 
querors. Julius Caesar first came into contact with the 
Britons during the campaigns in Gaul. Learning that the 
Veneti, who were contesting his authority, received aid from 
their kinsmen over-sea, he determined to strike terror to the 
hearts of the daring Britons. In August of 55 B.C., two 
legions were embarked to carry his purpose into effect. 
But then, as often in later history, the difficult winds and 
tides of the Channel proved the best defence of the 
islanders. The first expedition was demoralized by a 
storm. When, in the year following, Caesar crossed again 
with five legions, he made his way into the interior and de- 
stroyed a stockaded fortress on the Thames. Nothing was 
achieved, however, beyond a vain promise of tribute. Vexed 
by the loss of many of his ships and persuading himself 
that his object was accomplished, the great general with- 
drew his forces. 

The systematic conquest of " the cliff-girt isle " was not 
undertaken till a hundred years later. In 43 A.D.,the Em- 
peror Claudius despatched forty thousand men under Aulus Aulus 
Plautius on this mission. During his four years' sojourn in Plautius 
Britain, Plautius succeeded in subduing the Gallic tribes to 



Julius 
Caesar. 

Traill, I, 
pp. 10-15 



Caesar, 
Gallic War 

IV, 22, 28; 

V, 8, 18. 



20 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



the south of the Wash and the Severn, and thus put the 
Romans in possession of the coveted tin mines. His im- 
mediate successors built a line of forts along this frontier, 
planted a Roman colony at Camulodunum, 1 and carried the 
terror of the Roman name into the mountains of the west. 
The sacred grove of the Druids in the island of Mona 
(Anglesea) was destroyed, and the faith of the Celts in 
the protecting power of their ancient gods was shaken. 




A Roman Galley, showing the Boarding Bridge, etc 

From an old print 

The western confines of the Roman conquest were guarded 
by a series of fortified towns, — Deva (Chester), Uriconium 
(Wroxeter), and Isca Silurum (Caerleon upon Usk). 2 

Agricola. — Roman authority was thus established in the 
heart of Britain. Plautius and the generals who immedi- 
ately followed him were, however, but military leaders, 
rapid and cruel in their methods, and unsuited to the diffi- 
cult task of governing newly subject barbarians. The pro- 

1 The capital city of Shakespeare's Cymbeline, now Colchester. 

2 The " towered Camelot" of Arthurian romance. 



Extent of the Roman Province 21 

cess of civilization began with the advent of Agricola. This 
able governor subdued the Celtic tribes west to the Irish 
Sea and north as far as the Solway and the Tyne, and 
established a strong garrison at Eboracum (York) which 
became the centre of Roman influence in the north. Thus 
Agricola ranks with the foremost of the conquerors ; but 
he knew that a conquest which "loads the vanquished Tacitus, 
with injury and oppression can never be secure and per- 
manent." He therefore undertook to reconcile the people 
to Roman rule by appointing just men to office, sup- 
pressing the abuses that were rife under his predeces- 
sors, checking the intertribal feuds that had been the curse 
of Britain, and guarding the prosperous south against the 
untamed barbarians beyond the frontiers. It was in the 
hope of overawing the Picts of the north — Caledonians, 
as the Romans called them — that Agricola pushed his 
conquests to the valley lying between the estuaries of the 
Forth and the Clyde. The highlands beyond proved un- 
conquerable. The tribal chieftains summoned their fol- 
lowers to the upland glens and defied pursuit. The Roman 
commander was obliged to be content with erecting a new 
line of forts along this northernmost frontier. Agricola had 
projected an invasion of Ireland, but he was not allowed 
time to carry out this plan. The sister island remained 
independent and a refuge for malcontents until long after 
Roman dominion had passed away. After six years of 
efficient service, the best ruler Rome ever sent to Britain 
was recalled because of the emperor's jealousy, but Agricola 
" delivered to his successor," says his biographer Tacitus, 
"a quiet and well-ordered government." 

Extent of the Roman Province. — In the next century 
these conquests were secured by walls connecting the origi- The Roman 
nal fortresses. Hadrian erected the so-called Roman Wall 1 Walls, 
that spans the seventy miles from Carlisle to Newcastle. 
It was strongly built of stone, and considerable portions 

1 Hadrian's Wall (121 A.D.), later called the Picts' Wall, and now the 
Roman Wall, was a chain of forts connected by an intrenched road. 



22 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



it are standing to this day 




id Graham's Dyke, w 



The Wall of Antonine x ran 
from the Forth to the 
Clyde, and bounded the 
northernmost conquest. 
It was less securely built 
of earth, as befitted the 
more dubious tenure. 
Within these limits the 
Pax Romana was main- 
tained for upward of 
three centuries. The 
English race has not 
been in possession of 
the Atlantic seaboard of 
.s North America so long 
| a time, and yet the Ro- 
aq mans did not Latinize 
"5 Britain as we have Angli- 
^ cized our part of the 
I New World. The ex- 
i, planation of their failure 
1 is to be found in the 
£ nature of the Roman 
colony. 

The Character of Ro- 
man Rule. — The Latin 
conquest of Britain 
meant military occupa- 
tion, not settlement. 
Rome held the country, 
as Spain held her colo- 
nies, for the sake of the 
revenue to be derived 
and the lucrative posts 
fJM^fi tnat provincial adminis- 

IThe Wall of Antonine, now 
built in the reign of Antoninus Pius (143 A.D.). 



Gains 23 

tration afforded to her citizens. The native population was 
not supplanted as we have supplanted the Indians, but left 
on the land and governed in the interest of Rome. It suited 
the conquerors that the people should be contented and pros- 
perous, therefore stable government was maintained, the land 
was protected against invasion and civil war, while Britons 
who had deserved well of the ruling Caesar were admitted 
to Roman citizenship. 

Gains. — Great attention was given to the development Train, 1, 
of the material resources of the country. The mines were pp " 9 °~ 95 
worked to their full capacity, forests were cleared, marshes 
drained, and the area of tillage extended by forced labor. 
As far north as Hadrian's Wall the country was portioned Cunning- 
out in great estates and cultivated for the benefit of the ham - PP- 
alien owners by the subjugated Celts. The Roman proprie- S2, 53 ' 
tors introduced iron-shod tools, fruit trees, grape vines, new 
varieties of seed, better breeds of cattle, and rotation of 
crops. Under their intelligent supervision, Britain became 
"the granary of the north." The remains of numerous 
palaces and villas, solidly built of stone, handsomely paved, 
and provided with hot-air pipes as a protection against this 
climate " always damp with rains and overcast with clouds," 
still testify to the wealth of the Roman landowners. 

An alien and hated ruling class would not neglect the 
means of communication. Military roads were cut straight 
through the country to connect strategic points. The old 
streets were widened, graded, and substantially paved with 
stone, bridges were built across the more dangerous fords, The R oman 
and no pains was spared in the effort to facilitate trade, roads. 
Four highways converged at Londinium (London), already 
become the commercial centre of Britain, and three at the 
important frontier fortress of Deva (Chester). Two well- 
travelled roads crossed at Aquae Sulis (Bath), much fre- 
quented even then for its medicinal waters. The principal 
roads were Watling Street running from Rutupiae (Rich- 
borough) on the Channel by way of London and Wroxeter 
to Chester and the Irish Sea : Irmin Street from Lincoln 



2 4 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



through a pottery district to Colchester and London; and 
the Fosse Way, connecting Lincoln with Bath. Under the 
influence of the Latins, the land waxed rich and populous. 
Camps and military stations, maintained at first for defence, 
attracted a non-martial population and soon became towns. 
Two centuries after the conquest, Britain boasted fifty-nine 
cities, thirty of which were fortified. 1 These were the cen- 







Multangular Tower, York 

The lower half is of Roman masonry 



tres of Roman civilization, the seats of Roman government. 
Here were palaces, baths, theatres, and the other luxuries 
that rendered provincial life endurable to the conquerors. 
Agricola had encouraged education and brought Roman 
tutors to Britain. Under Hadrian, the land was described 
as having been conquered by Gallic schoolmasters. Latin 

l Several English cities retain in their modern names evidence of 
Roman origin; e.g. Porchester (Portus Magnus), Lincoln (Lindum 
Colonia), Gloucester (Glevum Castrum), Winchester (Gwent Castrum). 



Losses 25 

was the prevailing language in the towns. The Celtic 
tongue, despised and forgotten, was banished to the rural 
districts. 

Losses. — Great as were the advantages of Roman rule, Traill, I, 
they were more than counterbalanced by the heavy burdens pp> 20_2 5- 
imposed. Besides the usual money tribute levied upon the 
provinces, Britain was obliged to furnish a fixed quota of 
corn for the maintenance of the imperial armies. Customs 
duties were collected at every port, and the flourishing trade 
with the Continent was made to pay toll to the imperial 
treasury. Estates were assessed to the full amount of their 
revenue, and prompt payment was extorted. The visit of 
the tax-gatherer furnished the occasion for more than one 
insurrection. 1 

This was not all. The Britons complained that they were 
forced to pay " a yearly tribute of their bodies." The men 
annually drafted into the army and navy were sent abroad 
for service, " as if they might die for every country but their Tacitus 
own." It was part of the imperial policy to break down 
national feeling in the provinces by such interchange of 
troops. An African serving in Gaul, or a Briton serving in 
the Pyrenees, lost his provincialism and learned to consider 
himself the servant of Caesar. Britain was doubtless civil- 
ized by the Roman occupation, but at heavy cost. The 
steady drain of money, blood, and patriotism reduced the 
people to impotency. 

A source of weakness, more insidious but no less sure, 
was the demoralization consequent on contact with Roman 
life. Few barbarous peoples are able to retain their race 
integrity in the presence of a higher civilization. As they 
imitate alien customs, they are prone to abandon their own 
moral standards. In the case of the Romanized Celts, the 
civilization they adopted was fundamentally corrupt. The 
Roman rulers gave to Britain a strong government and 
encouraged advanced methods of commerce and industry, 
but they introduced at the same time enervating luxuries 

l e.g. the rising under Boadicea, 61 A.D. 



26 Race Elements of the English Nation 

and unmanly vices. The inhabitants who came under the 
influence of Rome lapsed slowly into sloth and cowardice. 
Christian missionaries, it is true, came from Rome, — the 
Apostle Paul himself, tradition would have us believe ; but 
not until the fourth century, not until Constantine had 
placed the cross upon the imperial banner, was the church 
established in Britain. Its hold upon the people was slight. 
In many of the towns, Christian temples were built 1 and 
the clergy obtained considerable influence, but in the rural 
districts, spite of the many mission monasteries dedicated 
to the conversion of the Britons, the superstitious practices 
of Druidism lingered. 

The Barbarian Invasions. — When the power of Rome 
began to wane and it was found necessary to withdraw 
the imperial troops from this remote province, the Celts 
were become " an indolent and slothful race " with no 
capacity to govern themselves or to defend their land 
against invasion. Enemies multiplied apace. Picts (Iberi- 
ans from Scotland) swarmed over the unprotected wall, 
Scots (Celts from Ireland) crossed the Irish Sea and made 
their way up the Solway, the Dee, and the Severn into the 
interior. These were old foes, but worse was to come. 
Along the east and south coasts, for centuries exempt from 
war, appeared the Saxons. These were daring pirates, who, 
crossing the North Sea in their long galleys, sought plunder 
in Britain. Beaching their boats where occasion offered, 
they forced a landing and preyed upon the helpless inhabit- 
ants. Desperate attempts were made to ward off the in- 
vaders. Watch-towers were built on every navigable river 
aiong the coast from the Wash to Beachy Head. The de- 
fence of the south was entrusted to a commander entitled 
" the Count of the Saxon shore," while a " Duke of the 
Britons " was appointed to hold the Scots and Picts at bay. 
All was of little avail. The attacks of the barbarians grew 
more frequent, more persistent, and the resistance less ef- 
fective every year. "They levelled, trampled down, and 

1 e.g. St. Martin's at Canterbury. 



6 5 




East 1 



IOBM»YiCO.,tNGH'! 



28 Race Elements of the English Nation 

swept off whatever came in their way, as if they were reap- 
ing corn ripe for the harvest." 

The emperor could give no adequate assistance, for 
barbarians threatened not Britain only but every frontier 
province. The Vandals invaded Gaul and severed the 
of 1 the rawa communication between Britain and Rome. The imperial 
Romans. city was itself pillaged by the Goths (410) and had need of 
all her legions. In 411 Honorius sent letters bidding the 
Britons look to their own defence. One last appeal the 
abandoned province addressed to Rome. "The barbari- 
ans," they said, " drive us to the sea ; the sea throws us back 
on the barbarians : thus two modes of death await us, we 
are either slain or drowned." 1 The withdrawal of the 
Roman officials gave opportunity for the tribal chiefs to 
assert their authority. One after another assumed the title 
" Duke of Britain," but no one was strong enough to unite 
the several tribes under his leadership. Rival ambitions 
led to demoralizing strife, and Britain was a kingdom di- 
vided against itself in the day when it had most need of 
strength. 

The Saxon Conquest. — The newcomers were Teutons — 
a race akin to Roman, Celt, and Iberian alike — tall and 
blond, with fierce blue eyes and speaking an unknown tongue. 
Green, They came from the low peninsula that lies between the 

PP- 1 ~7- Baltic and the North Sea : the Jutes from the land we now 

Source-Book, ca 'l Denmark, the Angles from Schleswig-Holstein, the 
pp. 4-11. Saxons from the valleys of the Weser and Elbe rivers. The 
region they abandoned was wild swamp-land and forest. 
To their unaccustomed eyes, the cultivated fields and popu- 
lous cities of Britain were marvels of wealth and a tempting 
prey. They crossed the sea in war-bands, each chief ac- 
companied by his gesiths, warriors pledged to fight by his 
side to the death and entitled to a share in the booty. The 
object of the first expeditions was pillage. Later, as they 
proved their prowess, the invaders grew more ambitious, 

1 Quoted by Gildas from the " Groans of the Britons," an appeal ad- 
dressed to Rome in 446 a.d. 



30 Race Elements of the English Nation 



Jutes. 

Green, 
pp. 7-12. 

Source-Book, 

pp. 12, I 3 . 



Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 



Deorham, 

577- 



and bringing with them women, children, and cattle, fought 
with a view to securing settlements. 

Fearing to be worsted in the unequal contest, the Britons 
employed a Roman device and bribed one set of barbarians 
to drive out another. In 449, a band of Jutes, under Hen- 
gist and Horsa, 1 was engaged to lend aid against the Picts 
and was thereupon allowed to occupy the Isle of Thanet. 
But the strange allies soon became troublesome. Com- 
plaining that the supplies provided them were insufficient, 
they ravaged the adjoining country, driving the terrified 
inhabitants to take refuge in the churches, in the forest, in 
the walled city of London. " The people fled from the 
Saxons as from fire." Villas were burned, temples pillaged, 
fields laid waste, while all who made resistance were put to 
the sword. By 473, the Jutes were in full possession of 
Kent. Four years later, a company of Saxons under ./Ella 
and Cissa landed at Selsey, and, storming the fortified places, 
conquered the south shore east to Anderida, and settled 
as South Saxons. In 495 other bands of Jutes and Saxons, 
led by Cerdic and Cymric, entered at Southampton Water, 
pushed west and north, and founded the kingdom of Wes- 
sex. The advance of the invaders seemed resistless, but 
they met a British force in pitched battle at Mt. Badon 
(516) and received a sudden check. The Saxons were 
forced back below the stretch of upland forest that then 
divided the Thames valley from the southern slopes of the 
Hampshire downs. The reviving courage of the Celts, and 
the praises of the hero king who led them to victory, were 
expressed in the legends of Arthur. For the moment, the 
fate of Britain seemed averted, but the respite was brief. 
In 552, the strong walls of Old Sarum gave way, and by 
577, the West Saxons had pushed their conquests to the 
Severn. At the battle of Deorham, three British kings were 
slain and three strong cities, Gloucester, Cirencester, and 
Bath, fell into the hands of the invader. This victory was 

1 Hengist and Horsa, Cerdic and Cymric, ^Ella and Cissa, may be 
legendary heroes. 



The Saxon Conquest 31 

decisive, for the Saxon conquest drove like a wedge be- 
tween the Celts of Devon and Cornwall and their kinsmen 
of Wales and the north, thus rendering concerted resistance 
impossible. 

Meantime, along the east coast, other barbarians, having Green, 
possessed themselves of the country from the Stour to the PP- I2 ~ l 7- 
Thames, settled as East Saxons in the land we call Essex, 
and as Middle Saxons farther west, where the fortified city 
of London fell to their portion. The third race of invaders, 
the Angles, making straight across the Channel, forced their Angles 
way into the inlets of the east coast and dispossessed the 
Britons in like fashion. They seem to have assumed new 
names, geographical rather than tribal. Between the Stour 
and the Wash, the East Anglians settled as Northfolk and 
Southfolk. Farther north, about the Roman fortress of 
Lindum, lay the Lindiswaras. Beyond the Humber, the 
Angles were called Deirans and Bernicians from the Celtic 
names of the lands they held. The Mercians were the men 
of the mark, or border, who held the English frontier 
against the unconquered Celts of the western highlands. 
Here the remnant of the Britons, whom the English called 
Welsh, or " strangers," stubbornly stood their ground, and 
succeeded in maintaining for centuries to come their tribal 
independence, cherishing with fervent patriotism the lan- 
guage, customs, and traditions of their race. The Roman- 
ized Gauls to the south and east made no such resistance, 
but sullenly submitted to the superior strength of the in- 
vader. How far they were exterminated is an open ques- 
tion. The towns doubtless suffered severely, and the 
populous river valleys ; the chieftains and fighting-men fell 
in battle ; but there is good reason to believe that the mass 
of the conquered, notably the women, were spared to serve 
their conquerors in house and field. 

Thus, over the greater part of England the Celts were 
reduced to subjection on the lands that they had once 
wrested from the Iberians. An interesting evidence of their 
degradation is the fact that the few Celtic words surviving 



32 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



in English speech are the names of household furniture and 
farm implements. 1 Nothing of Celtic usage survives in 
English institutions. 

Effects of the Saxon Conquest. — Bred in the forests of 
north Germany, remote from the Roman frontier, the Anglo- 
Saxons knew nothing of the Latin language, law, or religion. 
Hence the conquest meant reversion to barbarism. On the 
Continent the Teuton invaders, Visigoths, Franks, Lombards, 
were won over to the civilization of the empire they de- 
stroyed, adopting the speech and the faith of the lands they 




wasWE-AlJfc 




Ruins of Iona Cathedral 

Macgibbon and Ross, Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland 



Cunning- 
ham, p. 56. 



settled. But it was otherwise in Britain. The barbarians 
laid waste the cities, 2 slaughtered the inhabitants, and 
reduced the splendid Roman palaces to smoking ruins. 
Christian temples were sacked by the champions of Woden 
and Thor. Priests and monks were driven to take refuge 
in the fastnesses of the Welsh mountains, or the remote 
Irish shore. Wherever the Saxon won a foothold paganism 
triumphed. Latin and Celtic ceased to be used in the 
conquered districts, and all classes soon adopted the Ger- 
manic dialects spoken by the new masters. 



1 e.g. pony, cart, cradle, crock, bannock, slough. 

2 Many ruined cities were later rebuilt, but Anderida, Uriconium, 
Verulamium, lie in ruins still. 



Effects of the Saxon Conquest 



33 



The speech of the conquered race never recovered su- 
premacy, but it was otherwise with Christianity, for the 
church had its missionaries. Saint Patrick, a British slave, 
had won the wild Irish to the faith of Christ in the fifth 
century. In the sixth, Ireland sent ardent apostles for the 
reconversion of Britain. Columba founded a mission mon- 
astery at Iona, Aidan christened Lindisfarne the Holy Isle, 
Cuthbert preached the gospel to the Northumbrians, Chad 
to the Mercians. The Pope sent his emissaries as well : 
Augustine to the men of Kent, Birinus to Wessex, Paulinus 
to the Northumbrians, Ninias to the Picts. The English 
proved ready converts. The " unsullied life " of the de- 
voted missionaries won their hearts, and they gladly received 
at such hands the religion that promised a more certain 
knowledge of the life and destiny of man than their nature 
myths could give. Mercia alone held out. For twenty- 
two years (633-655) Penda, the chief of the borderland, 
fought the battle of the old gods against Edwin, the Chris- 
tian king of Northumbria. Not till the sturdy old heathen 
lay dead, were the labors of Chad crowned with success by 
the baptism of Penda's son and successor, Peada. 

Of Roman law and forms of government little survived 
the conquest. The Anglo-Saxons followed their ancient 
customs so far as they suited new conditions. Some increase 
of the chieftain's authority was inevitable. The leader of 
each invading host was recognized as king of the conquered 
territory. 1 It was usual to attribute to such heroes descent 
from Woden and to confer the royal office on one of his 
sons, but there was no hereditary right. The ablest man 
of the house was usually designated by the assembled war- 
riors (the folk-moot) . The members of the war-band, the 
gesiths, who had shared the hardships and the glories of the 
conquest, remained in attendance on the king as his thegns. 
They were his immediate councillors and the stable element 
of his fighting force. The rank and file of freemen were 

1 Hengist is said to have become king of Kent, and Cerdic king of 
the West Saxons. 
D 



Green, 
pp. 17-28. 

Introduction 

of 

Christianity, 



Source-Book, 
pp. 14-16. 



Bede. 



organiza- 
tion. 



Green, 
pp. 1-4. 



34 Race Elements of the English Nation 

summoned twice a year to the folk-moot and were liable at 
the call of the king to occasional service in the army oxfyrd. 
It is probable that the conquering Saxons settled by com- 
panies in villages {tuns or hams), each clan giving its name to 
the settlement. 1 The land was apportioned as booty among 
the warriors according to rank. The chief probably retained 
the largest share, to his immediate followers would be 
assigned considerable estates, while the simple freemen 
secured each a strip of arable land and had the right to 
pasture cattle in the common meadows, to hunt and to 
gather wood in the forest surrounding the village. 

The Welsh communities in the north and west remained 
unaffected by the conquest, but in the English districts the 
subjugated Celts were generally reduced to serfdom. Indi- 
viduals were doubtless sold into bondage, but the mass of 
the people remained as servile cultivators and craftsmen 
on the estates of the large landowners. The position of the 
serf was far superior to that of the slave. He was obliged 
to labor at the bidding of his lord and to render a certain 
amount of produce for the maintenance of his master's 
household, but he could not be sold into slavery nor could 
he be deprived of the right to live off the land his fathers 
had tilled. Some of the great Roman estates may have 
survived the conquest, but through the greater part of Eng- 
land the fields were laid waste and the very tradition of 
advanced methods of cultivation lost. 

Thus modern England owes little to Roman Britain. So 
complete was the Germanic conquest, so fully do Anglo- 
Saxon language, customs, and race traits dominate all later 
development, that English history may be said to date from 
the fifth century. The national life begins when the English 
people come into possession of their island home. 

Unsullied by Roman civilization, in the full vigor of barba- 
Traili, I rism, fierce fighters and heavy eaters, the Saxons had slight 

pp. 132, 133. comprehension of art, literature, or the refinements of civ- 

1 Many of these generic names survive in modern England, e.g. Hun- 
tingdon, town of the Huntings ; Buckingham, home of the Buckings. 



Attainment of Ecclesiastical Unity 



35 



ilization ; but they were physically superior to their prede- 
cessors in Britain, and they possessed the capacity for 
self-defence and self-government that the demoralized Celts 
conspicuously lacked. Even the Welsh mountain tribes 
were weak by comparison. A pastoral people, they had 
slight sense of ownership in their grazing lands and readily 
abandoned them when threatened by superior force. The 
Saxons, on the other hand, lived by the cultivation of the 
soil. No later invader succeeded in dispossessing them. 
They remain fast rooted to the land and have furnished the 
most enduring element in English life and character. 




Inscription from a Runic Stone 

De Worsaae, The Primeval Atitiquities of Demi 



Attainment of Ecclesiastical Unity. — The first apostles 
to the English worked quite independently of each other 
and often at cross-purposes. The southern kingdoms were 
converted by missionaries sent from Rome, while the north 
received the faith from the lips of Irish monks. Certain 
differences of observance, slight enough in themselves, 1 dis- 
tinguished the emissaries of the Pope from the disciples of 
Columba. Each faction insisted on its own usage, and sharp 
dissension arose. In 664, a great synod was held at Whitby, 
where a decision was reached, confirming the Roman cus- 
tom, and thereafter the English church recognized the Pope 
as supreme authority in matters spiritual. The Irish church 

1 Such questions as the suitable form of tonsure and the correct date for 
the Easter festival. 



Green, 
pp. 29 32 



36 Race Elements of the English Nation 

remained loyal to its ancient usage and independent of 
Rome. When Theodore of Tarsus became Archbishop 
of Canterbury (668), he undertook to organize the churches 
of the several Saxon kingdoms as a national whole. The 
number of bishops was increased and each was made re- 
sponsible to the archbishop for the well-being of his own 
diocese. Ecclesiastical questions of general importance 
were to be determined in representative councils. Stable 
organization gave new effectiveness to the work of the 







Saxon Church at Bradford-on-Avon 

Archceological Journal 



Green, 
pp. 41-44. 



church, and the English soon came to be regarded as the 
most Christian people of Western Europe. Within a hun- 
dred years after the landing of Augustine, England was send- 
ing missionaries and scholars to the Continent. 1 

The Postponement of Political Unity. — The church was 
organized on national lines five hundred years before politi- 
cal unity was attained. During the eighth and ninth cen- 
turies England was divided into a number of little kingdoms 5 
warring against each other for increase of territory. One by 

1 Willibrord to Frisia, Quidbert to Hesse, Alcuin to the court of Charle- 
magne. 

2 The seven kingdoms, Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Sussex, Kent, 
Essex, East Anglia, made up the so-called Heptarchy. 



The Danes 



37 



one the weaker states were forced to a dependent position, 
and the contest for supremacy lay between the three great 
kingdoms, Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex. Each in turn 
won the leadership only to be displaced by a stronger rival. 
No one had force sufficient to establish a permanent rule. 
The title of Bretwalda, conferred upon a successful king, Bretwalda 
gave him no authority but that of overlord of semi-indepen- 
dent states. 

These unhappy civil dissensions delayed the subjugation 
of the Celtic tribes to the north and west. The most 
martial of the English kings succeeded in advancing their 
boundaries only a little way beyond the original frontier. 
Ethelfrith of Northumbria (593-617) drove the Scots back 
to the Firth of Forth in 603. Four years later he forced 
his way to the river Dee, and, taking possession of Chester, 
divided the Welsh of the mountains from the Celts of 
Strathclyde. Edwin, his able successor (617-633), built a 
fortress, Edwinesburgh, on the Forth as an outpost against 
the Scots, and launching a fleet on the Irish Sea, added 
Anglesea and the Isle of Man to the list of English con- 
quests. Offa of Mercia (758-794) pushed his frontier 
beyond the Severn, planted a settlement at Shrewsbury, and 
erected along this western boundary a huge dyke called by 
his name. 1 Egbert of Wessex (802-839) won a victory 
over the West Welsh that gave him possession of Exeter and 
added Devon to his kingdom. 

Egbert was the eighth Bretwalda, but the first " king of 
the English." His kingdom extended from the Tamar to 
the Tweed, from Offa's dyke to the Channel, almost the 
present confines of England. But the time was not ripe 
for national unity. Tribal distinctions were jealously fos- 
tered by the subject kings. Northumbrians, Mercians, Jutes, 
and Saxons did not learn to act as one people until they 
were forced to do so in meeting a common danger and 
fighting a common foe. 

The Danes. — Toward the close of the eighth century, 

1 Offa's dyke may still be traced from the Wye to the Dee. 



3§ 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



Green, 
pp. 44-47. 



Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 



Traill, I, 
pp. 140-147. 



Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 



civilization was threatened by new barbarian invasions ; 
the Danes or Northmen came swarming down from the 
Scandinavian lands along the Baltic to plunder the coast 
of Europe. England first became aware of them in 787, 
when three pirate ships attacked the town of Dorches- 
ter. Six years later the " havoc of heathen men mis- 
erably destroyed God's church at Lindisfarne." From that 
time the raids grew more frequent till they became a yearly 
scourge. 

The vikings l found Britain a rich and easy prey. Com- 
ing as the Angles and Jutes had done three hundred years 
before, as pirates aiming at plunder, they were at first con- 
tent to harry the coast-lands and escape over-sea with their 
booty. As they gained in numbers and experience, how- 
ever, they made their way up the rivers and attacked popu- 
lous towns. London fell a prey to such a raid (853), and 
the rich episcopal cities of Canterbury (853) and York 
(867). The English made but feeble resistance, preferring 
to buy off the foe rather than fight against desperate odds. 
They had lost valor and military skill in the years of order 
and plenty. They had become farmers, merchants, priests. 
Prosperous, contented, fully wonted to the arts of peace, 
they were loath to take up arms except when danger 
threatened their own immediate vicinity. Rudely armed, 
undisciplined, fighting each kingdom and each town for 
itself, they were easily worsted by the war-bands of the 
Danes. The invaders, on the other hand, were mailed 
warriors who, mounted on horseback and free of incum- 
brances, swept the country from sea to sea. Every raid 
was a disaster to the English, marked by smoking houses 
and devastated fields ; but their enemies had nothing to 
lose. When brought to bay, the "foxes" intrenched them- 
selves in hastily constructed earthworks. Driven thence, 
they fled over-sea no poorer than they came. The black 
keels of the Northmen multiplied year by year until their 



1 Norse chieftains, so called from the vicks or inlets where their ships 
were harbored. 




Danish Armor 

De Worsaae, Industrial Arts of Denmark 



4 o 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



advent darkened the sea. Pushing up the Thames, the 
Severn, and the rivers of the east coast, they overran 
Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria. The inhabitants 
could make no effective stand against them. Lincoln and 
Nottingham fell into Danish hands, together with Derby, 
Leicester, and Stamford, the five boroughs from which they 
ruled northern England. Once secure in possession of 
Northumbria and Mercia, the chieftains apportioned the 
lands among their followers, and the fierce sea-rovers began 
to plough and sow their new possessions like men who meant 
to stay. In Kent and East Anglia the " army " plundered 




Viking Ship found at Gokstadt 

Montelius, The Civilization of Sweden in Heathen Times 



Green, 
pp. 47-49! 

53- 

Source- Book, 

pp. 21-24. 



and burned until the people were fain to purchase a humil- 
iating truce. The invaders reached Wessex in 871, but here 
they met more valiant resistance. King Ethelred and his 
brother Alfred met them in fair fight. Nine great battles 
were fought in that year, but with so dubious result that 
the West Saxons were forced in their turn to make a com- 
promising peace. 

Alfred (871-901). — When Alfred came to the throne, 
the realm of Egbert was reduced to Wessex and Devon ; 
and Wessex itself was so cowed by defeat that the people 
had been content to buy off the Danes, though experience 
proved that such promises were lightly broken. It was 



Alfred 41 

Alfred's task to encourage his people to undertake a united 
resistance. In 878 the "army" again crossed the Thames 
and harried the west country. The terrified inhabitants 
submitted or fled over-sea. The king himself was put to 
great straits and took refuge with a little band of faithful 
followers in the woods and moor fastnesses of Somerset. 
There at Athelney he threw up a fortress and summoned 
the people to his aid. The hearts of the West Saxons 
" resided in brave dwellings." They only needed a leader. Anglo-Saxon 
From all the adjacent shires men true and valiant flocked Chro,Ucle - 
to his standard. Desperation lent strength to the little 
force, so that they sought out the "army" at Ethandun 
and put it to flight. Guthrurn, the Danish chieftain, was 
fain to promise that he would receive baptism and molest 
Wessex no further. Two years later his army withdrew to 
East Anglia and settled there. Those who could not be 
reconciled to a quiet life returned over-sea. In the treaty Treaty of 
of Wedmore (879), concluded between Alfred and Gu- Wedmore, 
thrum, an attempt was made to define the territory con- 79 ' 
quered by the Danes. The half of England north of 
Watling Street, including Essex, East Anglia, Eastern Mercia, 
and Deira, was conceded to be Danelagh. All England 
south of the Thames remained to Alfred, and Western 
Mercia acknowledged his overlordship. Bernicia was in- 
dependent, but English and friendly. Fifteen years of com- 
parative peace followed upon Guthnim's surrender. 

The " stillness " Alfred longed for was, however, not yet Asser's Life, 
secured. The " heathen " were ever faith-breakers, and bap- 
tism could not purge their hearts of love of plunder. New 
armies came over-sea, and the Danes of East Anglia and the 
north were prone to join their plundering raids. In 893, 
Hasting, the famous freebooter who had for years been the 
terror of the Frankish kingdoms, landed in Kent with two 
great armies, and his onslaught threatened to overwhelm 
the land. The emergency lent Alfred authority such as no 
king of the English had yet exercised. Every considerable 
landowner was obliged to furnish a fully armed horseman, 



ALFRED'S 

ENGLAND 





4 


^v^T\^ 


VISLE ^^ 


SCALE OF ENGLISH MILES 
5 10 20 30 60 


* ?%S\ 


EXPLANATION 


it" S> , 








DDQ 




;'j r. 


)r.T««« 






Alfred 



43 



while every freeman, however small his holding, must serve 
in the fyrd.. A simple rotation of service converted the 
occasional levy into a standing army. The king divided 
his host into two parts. One half remained at home, while 
the other half served in the field, a sufficient number of 
men being reserved to defend the cities. With this force, 
the king marched from London to Exeter and back again 
to London, driving the vikings from their fastnesses and 
burning their ships when they came ashore. The harvesters 
were protected as they gathered the crops, and the king's 




Ancient War Canoe 

Miiller, Nordische Altertumskutide 

troops stood guard while the townsmen rebuilt their walls. 
"Thanks be to God," cries the Chronicler, "the army had 
not utterly broken up the Angle race." With disciplined 
and reliable troops at his service, Alfred was more than a 
match for the invaders and drove them from the land ; but 
the vikings were still masters of the Channel and ready to 
swoop down upon any undefended point. Realizing that 
these attacks must be forestalled, the king commanded 
great ships to be built after a model of his own devising. 
They were longer and steadier and at the same time swifter 
than the "keels" of the Danes. In 897 the little navy 



44 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



Green, 
pp. 81-84. 



Proverbs of 
Alfred. 



Green, 
PP- 53. 54- 



Source-Book, 
pp. 17-20. 



put boldly out to sea and drove the viking fleet from the 
south coast. 

The Work of Alfred. — Alfred rescued Saxon civilization 
when he confined the Danes beyond the Thames and de- 
fended the coast against further devastating inroads. He 
laid foundations for the lasting supremacy of the English 
when he built a navy and organized a permanent military 
force. Thereafter the king of Wessex was the rallying-point 
of the defence. Long after the house of Cerdic had ceased 
to reign, Alfred was hailed as England's shepherd, Eng- 
land's darling, England's comforter. He is the only one in 
the long line of English kings who has been honored with 
the title of " the Great." 

For Government. — The war against the Danes was not 
Alfred's best service to the land he ruled. Under his 
wise direction, a stable government was established for 
the kingdom south of the Thames. The realm was ad- 
ministered in districts called shires. 1 For each shire, an 
alderman was appointed who was held responsible for 
the execution of the law and the levying of troops in the 
king's service. The sheriff represented the king in the 
local courts, declaring the law and defending the royal in- 
terests. From the decision of the shire court, a man who 
felt himself injured might appeal to the king. Alfred was 
accustomed to inquire into the wisdom of the sentences 
rendered in his name, and to call to account judges who 
through ignorance or favor had failed to enforce the right. 
Asser tells us how eagerly these officers set to work to study 
the law, and how bitterly they lamented that they had not 
been properly taught in their youth when learning would 
have been easier. Their task was rendered a difficult one 
by the confused and conflicting character of Anglo-Saxon 
law. The ancient customs had been reduced to writing 
and promulgated as laws by the early kings, but chang- 
ing circumstances had brought new forms into vogue, while 

1 Each shire corresponds to an early settlement, and the shire-moot to 
the folk-moot of a former kingdom ; e.g. Kent, Sussex, Dorset, Somerset. 



For Literature 45 

much of the old usage was inapplicable. Alfred under- 
took to simplify and reduce to a uniform code the various 
laws and customs that had been sanctioned by his prede- 
cessors. There is little that is new in his " dooms," as he 
himself states in the preamble. " I then, Alfred, king, 
gathered these (laws) together and commanded many of 
those to be written which our forefathers held, those which 
to me seemed good, and many of those which seemed to 
me not good, I rejected them by the counsel of my Witan — 
for I durst not venture to set down in writing much of my 
own, for it was unknown to me what of it would please 
those who should come after us." 

The laws of Alfred represent the best wisdom of the 
Anglo-Saxons, but they seem barbaric when compared with 
modern legislation. Penalties were not so much preventive 
as retaliatory. Every crime had its price, and injuries 
must be atoned for by the payment of wer-gild (blood- Wer-gild 
money). "If a man strike out another's eye let him pay 
60 shillings." " If a man strike out another's tooth in the 
front of his head, let him make amends for it with 8 shil- 
lings ; if it be the canine tooth, let 4 shillings be paid as 
amends. A man's grinder is worth 15 shillings." This was 
rough justice, but it had the effect of checking crime, and 
was perhaps the only means of affording protection to the 
weak in this age of violence. The wer-gild marks an im- 
portant advance on the custom of blood-feud prevailing 
among the Celts. The family of an injured man was still 
bound to exact vengeance, not, however, in blood, but in 
silver. The law determined the money equivalent of the 
wrong; the king enforced the penalty. The methods used 
to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused were 
still primitive. If a man could bring a sufficient num- 
ber of neighbors 1 to swear that he had not committed the 
offence, he went free. Failing this, he must undergo the 
ordeal, appealing to God to vindicate the right. 

For Literature. — Alfred was a king by birth and a soldier 

1 This form of trial was known as " compurgation." 



4 6 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



Green, 
pp. 50-52. 



Alfred's In- 
troduction to 
Pastoral 
Care. 



Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 



by force of circumstances, but nature intended him for a stu- 
dent. Not all the engrossing cares and anxieties of that long 
struggle with the Danes could thwart his scholar's purpose. 
Asser tells us that it was the king's custom " both night and 
day and amid his many other occupations of mind and 
body, either himself to read books or to listen whilst others 
read them." He yearned to give to his people the treasures 
of knowledge he found in the ancient writings. Under the 
ardent impulse lent by the Irish missionaries, the monas- 
teries of Northumbria had been centres of learning, but they 
had suffered severely during the Danish inroads. Many 
houses had been sacked and burned, and the brethren 
scattered. Knowledge of Latin, the literary tongue, had 
well-nigh perished. Alfred writes mournfully of the lost 
books and treasures. " So clean was learning now fallen off 
among the English race, that there were very few (priests) 
on this side of the Humber that were able to understand 
their service in English, or even to turn an epistle from Latin 
into English ; and I think that there were not many beyond 
the Humber. So few were there of them that I cannot 
think of even one south of the Thames when I first took the 
kingdom." Alfred did what he could to repair this damage 
by rebuilding churches and convents and founding schools. 
The School of the Angle Race at Rome was " freed " by 
Pope Marinus, at his request, " from all tribute and tax." 
Learned men were summoned to his court from all parts of 
England, from Wales, and from the Continent. 1 

For the instruction of laymen the king determined to 
translate into Anglo-Saxon, the unlettered speech of the 
people, the most useful books he knew. The Psalms, Gos- 
pels, and other portions of the Bible had been already 
translated. 2 Alfred chose the Consolation of the philoso- 
pher Boethius, the Pastoral Care of Pope Gregory, the 
Universal History of Orosius, and the Ecclesiastical His- 



1 e.g. Plegmund, an Anglo-Saxon; Asser, a Welshman; Grimbald, 
Frank ; John of Saxony, a German. 

2 By the monks of Lindisfarne. 



Reconquest of England 47 

tory of the Venerable Bede. He was especially desirous 
that the history of England should be recorded for the use 
of future generations. Something had already been done 
in the religious houses, where the monks had set down the 
happenings that came within their ken, an eclipse of the 
moon, a miracle, the accession of a king, the death of a 
saint. But Alfred proposed more than this. Under his 
inspiring guidance the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 1 was enlarged 
and enriched until it became the best of contemporary his- 
tories. Far more important than the immediate ends the 
king had in view was the ultimate result of this work. His 
determination to use the vulgar tongue made English a 
literary language. His translations fixed its form and pre- 
served it from loss in the troubled centuries that were to 
follow. 

For Industry. — Alfred showed a keen concern for the 
material interests of his people, and not a few important 
inventions were attributed to his ingenuity. He planned 
and built not ships and fortresses alone, but churches and 
palaces. The skilled trades were encouraged, and he taught 
"his workers of gold and his artificers of all kinds" how to Asser's Life. 
improve their fabric. As soon as the sea was cleared of 
pirates, trade revived and commercial relations with the 
Continent were reestablished. The king received embassies 
from France, from Spain, and even from Jerusalem. His 
daughter, Ethelfoyth, was married to the count of Flanders. 
The alliance marks the beginning of a fruitful commerce 
between England and the Low Countries. 

Reconquest of England. — Under Edward the Elder 
(901-925), the worthy son of Alfred, East Anglia, Danish 
Mercia, and Essex were recovered to English rule. The Green, 
king was ably seconded by his sister Ethelflseda, the valiant pp< S4_s8 - 
" Lady of Mercia." Assuming at the death of her husband 
the task of defending the English frontier, she boldly took 
the offensive. Making a sally into Wales, she carried Breck- 

1 This is the earliest attempt of a Teutonic people to record its annals in 
the native tongue. 




Anglo-Saxon Relics of Gold and Bronze 



Reconqnest of England 49 

nock by storm. Turning against the Danes, she directed 
in person the siege of Derby, and while weeping woman's 
tears over the four thegns slain within the gates, made her- 
self master of the place. The Danish " army " at Leicester 
swore her allegiance, and the people of York offered to sur- 
render their city to her keeping. Slowly but surely the 
English forces • advanced into the enemy's country, laying 
siege to their fortresses, driving the 'several " armies " from 
their strongholds, while they rebuilt and repeopled the cities 
that had been ruined in the war. 1 Edward was welcomed 
as a deliverer by the whole English population : especially , , „ 

i- 1 , „ , , • f, • • ,, Anglo-Saxon 

did the peasantry "seek his peace and his protection. Chronicle. 

Disheartened by his rapid successes, the Danish juris one 
after another gave in their submission. Even the Celts recog- 
nized in the king of Wessex the champion of liberty. In 
922 the North Welsh acknowledged his supremacy; two 
years later the Scots and the Welsh of Strathclyde " sought 
him for father and lord." 

The successors of Edward so vigorously maintained the West Saxon 
West Saxon supremacy that when Edgar came to the throne su P remac y- 
in 959 he was greeted not as king of the English only, but 
as ruler of all Britain. Tradition has it that he was rowed 
upon the Dee by six Celtic chieftains. Every year he made 
a tour of the coasts with a numerous fleet. The reign of 
Edgar, "the peaceful," marks the culmination of the rule 
of Wessex and of Anglo-Saxon civilization. The king, 
with his able archbishop, Dunstan, worked to secure peace 
and prosperity to the land. The long struggle with the 
Danes had at last done away with the tribal distinctions 
that divided the English, and the ambition of rival dynasties 
was satisfied by grant of the ealdorman's office. The jeal 
ousy of Welsh and Danes was disarmed by concessions to 
race prejudice. The subjugated peoples were governed by Cunning- 
rulers of their own blood, and in accordance with their an- '""• 

' pp. 8-1 1. 

cient customs. The Welsh remained Celts and alien, retaining 

1 Some thirty places were restored in middle England by the valiant 
brother and sister. 



5o 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



Traill, I, 
121-129. 



Source-Book, 
pp. 27-30. 



their own language and peculiar tribal organization long 
after they submitted to English overlordship. The funda- 
mental race difference between Celt and Teuton was not 
easily obliterated. With the Danes it was otherwise. They 
were of the same Norse stock as the Jutes and Angles, and 
spoke a kindred language. They had accepted Christianity 
with English rule, and as they settled down upon the land, 
they soon adopted the ways and speech of the English 
inhabitants, and became in their turn enamoured of peace 
and prosperity. 

Anglo-Saxon Civilization. — The original English settle- 
ments had been made at accessible points along the river- 
courses where a fertile soil promised sustenance, or near 
some old Roman city whose decaying walls afforded build- 
ing material. The barbarians cherished independence, and 
their villages were usually surrounded by wide stretches of 
waste land or forest. Since intercourse with the outside 
world was difficult, every community must be self-supporting. 

Agriculture. — Agriculture was the prime interest to which 
the whole working force of the village was at first devoted. 
The fertile lands were divided into acre and half-acre strips 
and assigned to the several families for tillage, very much as 
is still done in the Russian commune. Each allotment was 
separated from those adjoining by turf-balks or hedges, an 
arrangement that involved much waste of land and labor, 
but seemed the best way of securing to each man his just 
share. The pastures and meadows were unfenced, and 
every proprietor in the village lands had mowing and graz- 
ing rights therein. Cattle and sheep browsed in the open, 
while droves of swine fed on nuts and roots in the wood- 
land. The beasts were cared for and kept from straying 
into the tilled fields, or getting lost in the forest, by men and 
boys detailed for that service. The oxherds, cowherds, 
swineherds, and shepherds, who looked after the stock of 
the villagers, were maintained at common charge. On thegns' 
estates the same tasks were performed by serfs, men bound 
to the soil and forced to render labor service. 



Manufactures 5 1 

Manufactures. — As wants increased, new industries arose. 
Each village was provided with craftsmen skilled in certain 
trades, — carpenters and thatchers to build the houses, wheel- 
wrights and blacksmiths to set up ploughs and wagons, shoe- 
wrights and saddlers to fashion leather goods. Clothing 




Upright Loom from the Faroe Islands 

Montelius, The Civilization of Sweden in Heathen Times 

was manufactured largely by the women, who spun wool and 
flax with spindle and distaff, and wove cloth of gay colors on 
hand-looms. In the towns, some relics of the Roman hand- 
icrafts may have lingered, but the most important centres 
of industry were the monastic establishments. Here the 
arts that might enrich and dignify the ceremonial of worship 
were fostered. Glass-workers were brought over from the 



52 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



Traill.I, 
201-209. 



Thorpe, I, 
pp. 83, 119. 



Continent to fill the church windows with radiant light. 
Embroiderers made up gorgeous vestments, and gold-workers 
adorned God's altars with cross and image, or wrought mar- 
vellous shrines for the relics of the saints. The first Saxon 
churches were built of wood, and soon perished by fire or 
by natural decay. Stone-work was not introduced till the 
seventh century, when the Abbot Benedict undertook to 
build a church at Jarrow (68b) " in the Roman manner," 
and sought masons in France. 

Trade. — The revival of industries and the growing de- 
mand for luxuries served to promote trade. Many articles 
that could not be produced at home, such as salt, spices, fine 
cloth, iron, millstones, must be brought from a distance. 
Merchants made their way up the river-courses to the valley 
settlements, and then by the long-disused streets into the 
interior. Market towns were rebuilt at the cross-ways and 
by the river-fords, 1 while at the saints' shrines, where men 
gathered on feast days, great fairs were held. Commerce 
over- sea, interrupted by the centuries of warfare, revived 
with the interval of peace secured by the successors of 
Alfred. Gloucester was the meeting- place of Welsh and 
English merchants, Bristol and Chester divided the Irish 
trade, Exeter and the southern ports were in direct com- 
munication with France. Norwich, Dunwich, Ipswich, and 
especially London, secured the Channel traffic. Commerce 
brought increase of wealth and population to the towns. 
The thirty towns of Alfred's day had become eighty, with 
two hundred thousand inhabitants, by the eleventh century. 
The later Anglo-Saxon kings offered every encouragement 
to commerce. Ample protection was afforded to strange 
"chapmen" sojourning in the land, and Englishmen were 
incited to engage in foreign trade by the law providing that 
" every merchant who fares thrice across the wide sea at his 
own cost is of thegnright worthy." 

Britain exported, as in Roman days, cattle and grain, tin 
and lead, horses and slaves. The addition of certain manu- 

x e.g. Cambridge and Oxford. 



Political Organization 53 

factured articles, as gold-work and embroidery, indicates that 
considerable industrial advance had been made in spite of 
five centuries of well-nigh perpetual war. The slaves were 
for the most part the conquered Welsh, but there is evi- 
dence that the slave-trader did not eschew English blood. 
The boys on sale in the Roman market who attracted the 
pitying attention of Pope Gregory were Angles from Deira. 
Five centuries later the biographer of Wulfstan records that 
" The people of Bristol had an odious and inveterate custom 
of buying men and women in all parts of England, and 
exporting them to Ireland for gain." The church used its 
influence to discourage slavery. St. Patrick condemned the Green, 
practice of selling Christians to the pagan English, and the pp-5 8 .59- 
laws of Ine (688-728) forbade that " Christian men and Thor P e . 
uncondemned be sold out of the country, especially into a pp ' 47 ' 3 
heathen nation." 

Political Organization. — The Anglo-Saxon system of Trail, 1, 
government came to its full development under Edgar, pp- i 34-i-iq- 
The king had become the supreme authority, not only in 
military but in civil affairs. He presided in the Witenage- 
mot, the assembly of wise men (thegns, ealdormen, and bish- 
ops), summoned to advise the king and to legislate for the 
realm. The kingdom was grown too extensive for the assem- 
bly of the whole body of freemen as in the ancient folk moot. 
The troubled years of the Danish invasions had witnessed a Commenda- 
decline in the status of the ceorl or small landowner. Unable tion - 
to defend his possessions single-handed, he was fain to 
attach himself to the military leader of his neighborhood, 
surrendering somewhat of his personal independence in 
return for the promised protection. By Edgar's law, the 
practice was made obligatory. Every man below the rank 
of thegn must find himself a lord who should be responsible 
for him. 

A considerable degree of popular government persisted 
side by side with the growth of the royal authority. Every 
village had its ti/ngemot, where the heads of houses met to 
determine affairs of common interest, the number of cattle 



54 



Race Elements of the English Nation 



each man might turn into the common pasture, the time when 
the hay should be cut or the corn-fields reaped. Each tun 
sent its reeve and four best men to the hundred court, where 
minor offences and disputes between men of the hundred were 
dealt with. The same representatives met in the shire-court 
with the greater folk of the county, and there more serious of- 
fences and cases appealed from the hundred court were tried 
in the presence of the ealdorman, the bishop, and the king's 
reeve. 






Glass Vases 

De Baye, Industrial Arts of tht 



Important Events 

The Roman Occupation, 43-41 i a.d 

Caesar invades Britain, 55 and 54 b c. 

Agricola conquers Britain, 78-84 a d. 

Honorius abandons the province, 411 a.d. 
The Saxon Conquest, 449-607 a.d. 

The Jutes take possession of Kent, 4494- • 

The Saxons take possession of Sussex, Wessex, Essex, 477 + . 

The Angles take possession of Northumbria, East Anglia. 
Lindiswara, Mercia. 

The Britons are defeated at Old Sarum, 552; at Deorham, 
577 ; at Chester, 607. 



Important Events 55 

The Triumph of Christianity. 

Monastery at Iona founded by Columba, 565. 

Ethelbert of Kent converted by Augustine, 597. 

Edwin of Northumbria converted by Paulinus, 627. 

West Saxons converted by Birinus, 635. 

Peada of Mercia accepts Christianity, 655. 

The Roman ritual is adopted, 664. 

Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, 668-690. 

South Saxons converted by Wilfrid, 681. 
The Strong Kings of Wessex. 

Egbert attains to overlordship, 802-839. 

Alfred establishes a kingdom, 871-901. 

Edward recovers lost territories, 901-925. 

Edgar, the Peaceful, emperor of Britain, 959-975. 
Saxon Elements in the People and Institutions of England. 

Dominant race element. 

Framework and most essential portions of the language. 

The common law. 

Conception and form of local self-government. 

National characteristics of independence and pertinacity. 



CHAPTER III 

FOREIGN RULE 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 

Special Authorities 

Oman, England, from the Beginning to 1066. 

Davis, England from lobb to 12J2, ch. I, II, III, IV, V. 

Hodgkin, Political History of England, Vol. I, ch. XXV, XXVI. 

Adams, Political History of England, Vol. II, ch. I-XII. 

Anderson, Norse Mythology. 

Johnson, Normans in Europe. 

Church, St. Anselm. 

Freeman, Norman Conquest, abridged edition. 

Maitland, Domesday and Beyond. 

Imaginative Literature 

Young, The Little Duke. 

Bulwer, Harold the Last of the Saxon Kings. 

Kingsley, Hereward the Wake, the Last of the English. 

Tennyson, Harold. 

Rossetti, The While Ship. 

Johnson, Migrations of the Northmen. — Little is known of the 



1-14. 



early history of the Scandinavian peninsulas whence came 
the conquerors of England. To the Saxon chronicler, re- 
counting the long and losing struggle against the Danes, the 
invaders are wild barbarians for whom no epithet is too 
scathing. They are "wolves," "foxes," "pagans," "chil- 
dren of Satan." Yet the Scandinavians were near of kin to 
the English and possessed the best characteristics of the 
Teuton inheritance. The bitter struggle for existence in a 
56 



Normandy 57 

land that is one-third water and one-third mountain, and 
where winter lasts six months of the year, had bred in them 
endurance, ingenuity, and daring. In the course of the 
ninth' century the people seem to have grown too numerous 
for the resources of the scant coast-lands, and the more 
enterprising spirits set out to seek their fortunes in the richer 
realms to the south. The results of that exodus were mo- Johnson, 
mentous. We have seen how the Danes possessed them- pp- 15 ~ 31 
selves of northern England. In like manner Swedish 
war-bands ravaged the coasts of the Baltic, and, making 
their way inland to Novgorod and to Kiev, founded the 
ancient dynasty of Russia. The Norwegians, on the other 
hand, pushed westward and possessed themselves of the out- 
lying islands of the Atlantic. The Orkneys, the Shetlands, 
and the north coast of Scotland formed a viking kingdom 
that was held in fief of Norway until the fourteenth century. 
Farther west, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, Anglesea, and 
the neighboring Scotch and Irish shores were united in a 
maritime empire whose valiant princes 1 held their own 
until, in 1281, their dominions were annexed to Scotland. 

Continental Settlements. — Throughout the ninth and 
tenth centuries, France and Germany were ravaged by Norse 
pirates. The Rhine, the Elbe, the Scheldt, the Seine, and 
the Loire were the open highways by which the black keels 
of the barbarians made their way to the rich farm lands and 
populous cities of the interior. Smoking houses and bloody Johnson, 
battlefields marked their track. Legend records that the pp ' 32_35 ' 
great Charlemagne gazed ruefully upon their swift craft and 
predicted the ruin of his empire. 2 In the Litany service 
the terrified clergy inserted a special prayer, " From the fury 
of the Northmen, save us, Lord." 

Normandy. — As in England, so on the Continent, the 
war-bands, coming at first for booty, soon sought permanent Green, 
homes. Numerous scattered settlements along the rivers pp - 7I ~ 7+ 
of Gaul may still be traced in local terminology. The most 

1 The Lords of the Isles. 

2 So the monk of St. Gall. 



7 T 



10 ' 20" 



/ ' I \ \ 

MIGRATIONS OF THE * 



NORTHMEN 




BOflMAr ENGRAVIT 



Normandy 59 

important conquest made on the Continent, and the only 
one where the Norse retained race integrity, was the 
domain of Rollo the Ganger, 1 on the west coast. This Johnson, 
mighty warrior succeeded in wresting from Charles the pp - 35_37, 
Simple, the degenerate descendant of Charlemagne and 
king of the West Franks, a grant of the strip of territory at 
the mouth of the Seine called thereafter Normandy. As 
duke of the Normans, the conqueror swore fealty to the 
Frankish king and became his trusty vassal. Once recog- 
nized as a peer 2 of France, Rollo accepted Christianity, 
married a French princess, and set about governing his new 
subjects with such discretion that the whilom pirate became 
known as the father of his people. The lands were divided 
among his followers as spoils of conquest. 3 Thus the war- 
riors became vassals of the duke, holding their estates 
under obligation to military service, while the natives, being 
regarded as a subject race, were treated as serfs. At first Johnson, 
the Norse Vikings despised the Romanized and degenerate |" 37 * 
Franks. Absorbed in hunting and feasting, in making war Middle Ages 
upon a neighboring lord to extend a boundary or upon the P- I 5 8 - 
duke to resist a claim, they contemptuously declined to 
concern themselves with such slave's business as agriculture 
and the arts. Yet gradually the superior civilization gained 
influence over the conquerors. They married Frankish 



1 The Norman dukes : 



Rollo the Ganger, 912-927 
William Longsword, 927 ?~943 
Richard the Fearless, 943-996 



Richard II, the Good, 996-1026 Emma, m. Ethelred of England 

r 1 1 

Richard III, 1026-1028 Robert, 1028-1035 

William I, 1035-1087 

2 Peers {pares) were vassals of the same suzerain, holding fiefs of land 
in his domain of equal rank. 

3 Literally " roped out." 



6o 



Foreign Rule 



Green, 

pp. 59-64. 



women and adopted Frankish customs, they learned the 
Franco-Latin language with such facility that the grandson 
of Rollo could be taught, to speak Scandinavian only at 
Bayeux. Entering the awe-inspiring Christian churches, 
they forswore the fierce gods of their ancestors. They 
came under the sway of the clergy and .received at their 
hands not only a purer religion and a higher morality than 
Norse mythology taught them, but the conceptions of right 
and order preserved in the Roman law, the traditions of 
learning and literature treasured in the monasteries. So 
it followed that within the century after the conquest, the 
wild Northmen became essentially French. While losing 
nothing of their original valor and energy, they assimilated 
with marvellous readiness the best elements in the civiliza- 
tion of the conquered race. 

The Danes in England. — Meantime, across the Channel, 
other Norse vikings were mastering a kingdom. The re- 
newal of the Danish invasions began in 981 with an attack 
on Southampton. For the next thirty years " armies " from 
the north harried the English coast, burning the towns and 
slaughtering the inhabitants. Not infrequently the North- 
men forced the terrified people to provide them with horses, 
and sweeping far into the interior, plundered and killed and 
Anglo-Saxon did "unspeakable evil." They met with little concerted 
Chronicle. resistance. The good days of Alfred and Edward were 
Ethelred the past. Ethelred the Unready, 1 the degenerate son of Edgar, 
Unready. was no t equal to the emergency. He could not rally the 
English to unite against the foe. Each shire preferred to 
fight its own battle, and the national force, the fyrd, was 
with difficulty induced to remain under arms over the har- 
vest. The ealdormen who should have led their troops to 
the defence of the realm were jealous of each other and 
disloyal to the king. Again and again did a commander 
betray his trust on the very eve of battle. The Chronicle 
tells a tale of shame. "And forces were often gathered 
against the Danes, but as soon as they should have joined 

1 The old English term is " reckless," i.e. lacking in counsel. 



Source-Book^ 
pp. 30-34. 



62 



Foreign Rule 



The 
Danegeld. 



Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 



Anglo-Saxi 
Chronicle. 



Green, 

pp. 65-67. 



battle, then was there ever, through some cause, flight 
begun." London alone offered strenuous resistance. The 
citizens stood bravely by their defences even when beset by 
the whole Danish army, and their strong walls afforded 
refuge to the king himself. Unable to defend his realm by 
force of arms, Ethelred was fain to purchase an inglorious 
peace. 1 Five times in twenty years was tribute paid to the 
arm)'', and that in sums which taxed all the resources of the 
nation. "And nevertheless, for all the truce and tribute, 
they went everywhere in bands and plundered our miserable 
people and robbed and slew them." Swegen, the Norse 
leader, was bent on conquering a kingdom. The northern 
districts (Northumbria, Lindsey, and the five boroughs) 
were still Danish in blood and feeling, and readily submitted 
(1013). South of Watling Street, there was further fighting, 
but the strong cities surrendered one by one, the ealdormen 
and leading thegns went over to Swegen, and finally " all the 
people held him for full king." Not till every hope of suc- 
cess had failed did the citizens of London yield (1013). 
After that, King Ethelred fled over-sea to Richard, Duke 
of Normandy, whose sister Emma he had wedded. 2 

The Reign of Canute. — In 1014 Swegen died, and the 
strife broke out afresh, for the Danes chose his son Canute 
as king, while the Witan and the English declared for Ethel- 
red. The house of Cerdic found a worthy champion in 



1 The Danegeld was levied in 991, ^10,000; in 994, ,£16,000; in 1002, 
,£24,000; in 1007, ,£36,000; in ion, ,£48,000; in 1014, ,£21,000; money 
had at that time twenty times its present value. 

2Saxon Princess, m. Ethelred, m. Emma of Normandy 
name uncertain [__ | 

I I 

Edmund Ironside. Edward the Confessor 



Edward 

J 



I 1 

Edgar Atheling Margaret, m. king of Scots 

Matilda, m. Henry I 



Renetved Strife 



65 



Edmund Ironside. Six pitched battles were fought in seven 

months, and in four the English were victorious, but at the 

last great battle of Assingdun (1016) the treachery of Edric, Assingdun, 

the ealdorman, lost the day. Then the wise men counselled I0I<5 - 

a compromise, for the land was exhausted by civil strife. 

Edmund was to reign in Wessex, the kingdom of Egbert, 

while to Canute was conceded Mercia and the north. A 

few days after peace had been declared Edmund was foully 

assassinated by the same Edric who had fled from the field 

at Assingdun, and Canute fell heir to the whole kingdom. 

Peace Policy of Canute. — Canute had waged war like a source-Book, 
barbarian, but he ruled England as a Christian king. The pp- 35-3 8 - 
plundering army of freebooters was sent back to Denmark, 
and the alien monarch retained for his defence only a body- 
guard of several thousand huscarls} A general amnesty Anglo-Saxon 
was declared, and it was agreed that all the people, Danes Chronicle. 
and English alike, were to " live under Edgar's law." The 
administration of the several divisions of the kingdom was 
assigned to earls appointed without distinction of race. 2 
That his was a foreign rule was made evident, however, in 
the heavy tribute imposed. In 1018, for example, the king 
required ,£72,000 from the realm. The city of London alone 
was forced to pay ^"10,500. Canute's marriage with Emma, 
the widow of Ethelred, established a useful connection, not 
only with the fallen dynasty, but with the house of Rollo 
and the powerful duchy across the Channel. The realm 
of Canute had now attained imperial dimensions. Denmark 
and Norway acknowledged his sovereignty, while the king 
of Scots (103 1) renewed the oath of homage first given to 
Edward the Elder. 

Renewed Strife. — Canute's empire fell to pieces at his Green, 
death. His sons, Harold and Harthacanute, disputed the pp ' 7_7 °* 
succession, and the unhappy land was once again plunged 
into civil war. There was little to choose between the two 
princes. Both proved themselves cruel and oppressive be- 

1 Huscarls (house-men), the king's mercenary troops. 

2 For the old title of ealdorman is now substituted the Danish term, earl. 



6 4 



Foreign Rule 



Johnson, 
pp. 115-1 



Anglo-Saxon 

Chronicle 

1052. 



yond precedent and imposed heavy taxes for the support 
of the Danish troops. Thus, when Harthacanute died 
and Prince Edward, son of Ethelred and Emma, came 
forward to claim the throne, he was received with joy and 
crowned king forthwith. The rejoicing was premature. 
Edward, called the Confessor, because of his piety, proved 
but a feeble king. Educated at the court of Rouen, he was 
more French than English and brought with him to Eng- 
land a crowd of Norman priests and nobles. The difficul- 
ties of the reign were largely due to this foreign influence 
at court. Edward owed his crown to Godwin, Earl of 
Wessex, the stalwart champion of the English. In return, 
the king married Edgitha, the daughter of the great earl, 
and placed his sons in the chief offices. Godwin was able 
and patriotic, but he was only foremost of the earls. None 
but a strong king could unite the warring factions and give 
peace to the realm. In the absence of such a master, the 
kingdom was rent by civil strife. The lesser earls raised 
frequent pretexts for revolt, and such rebels against the royal 
authority found ready help in Wales and Ireland, among the 
ever hostile Celts. Norse pirates pillaged the coast towns, 
taking enormous booty which they carried over to Bruges 
for sale. The Norman courtiers preyed upon the land, in 
their more civilized fashion, demanding entertainment at the 
hands of the English as from a subject people. Far from 
rebuking his favorites, the king countenanced their misdeeds. 
Finally, in 105 1, Godwin and his sons were forced to flee 
the kingdom, and Lady Edgitha was driven from the court. 
In the year following, the great earl returned to claim his 
own. The English party was strong in the south, and the 
seaports of Kent and Sussex and Surrey sent their sailor-folk 
to join Earl Godwin's fleet. From the west came his valiant 
son Harold with Irish ships. Accompanied by a great force, 
the outraged earl sailed up the river to London. There he 
found the king's troops marshalled on the strand, but the an- 
ticipated battle did not take place. The leaders were struck 
by a sudden shame. Why should Englishmen slay English- 




ENGLAND AND 
NORMANDY 

IN 1065 

SCALE OF ENGLISH MILES 
10 20 40 60 80 12 

EXPLANATION 

Sons of Godwin I. . 

Sons of Leofric =■'"."" '_ 

Independent Earldoms _ : i 

Duke of Normandy uiuiilj 



jBayeux° ! 

flllij N! ° 




N 


W } ! °Tin,h 


bra 


-II 


1 N E 


' 


>M 


ii~ 


... 




Longitude East from Greenwich 



66 



Fon 



Rule 



men when aliens threatened the realm? The wise men 
arranged a reconciliation. Godwin's family was reinstated, 
and all the Frenchmen who had given evil counsel to the 
king were sent over-sea. 

Hardly had this hopeful peace been attained when the 
great earl died. Harold succeeded to his earldom and 
to his perplexities. Godwin's son Tostig had been ap- 
pointed Earl of Northumbria, but he was unequal to the 
government of that turbulent land. The Danish thanes 
declared him an outlaw and chose Morcar, a Mercian, in 




Harold and his Courtiers 

From the Bayeux tapestry 



his stead. Hopeless of reinstating him, the king yielded 
(1065) to the demands of the insurgents. Tostig fled to 
Bruges, where he was cordially received by that friend of 
the malcontents, Count Baldwin of Flanders. With all 
these evils Harold strove as best he might, and proved 
himself so valiant in the field and so wise in council that 
when Edward died childless (January 5, 1066) the Witan 
chose the son of Godwin to succeed him. 

The Disputed Succession. — Harold was not of the royal 
line, but he was, in the judgment of the Witan, the fittest 
man to reign. Although Edgar Atheling, grandson of 
Edmund Ironside, might claim the crown by hereditary 
right, no voice was raised in his behalf. The election was, 
however, protested from across the Channel. William, 



The Conquest 



6 7 



Duke of Normandy, grand-nephew of Emma, demanded Johnson, 

the succession. His claims were various. Edward had pp ' 9I_95, 

123-132. 
promised to make his Norman cousin heir to the crown ; Green 

Harold, wrecked on the French coast and delivered into pp. 74-81. 

the hands of his rival, had sworn on the sacred relics to 

surrender all rights to the throne ; finally the Pope, offended 

by English disregard of pontifical rights, 1 and persuaded that 

William was a faithful son of the church, sanctioned his 

succession and sent a consecrated banner to further the 

crusade against the impious oath-breaker. The choice of 

the Witan was worth more than all these arguments ; but 

William's right, as justified by the event, was not Edward's 

promise, nor Harold's oath, nor yet the papal blessing, but 

the ability to govern with a strong hand this kingdom long 

wasted by civil war. 

Harold was a brave and loyal Englishman, but he could Source- Book, 
not induce the warring earls to unite against the invader, pp- 39-4*- 
At the very time when the king with a great force of men 
and ships was awaiting the advent of the Normans on the 
south coast, Tostig, the banished brother of the king, hav- 
ing found allies in Scotland and Norway, sailed up the Hum- 
ber and attacked the northern earls. The king was obliged 
to march north in their defence ; and, though Tostig was 
slain at Stamford Bridge (September 20, 1066) and his army 
put to flight, the battle proved the ruin of the English. Hur- 
rying south again with a weakened force, Harold found the 
Normans disembarked at Hastings. His foot-soldiers were 
no match for William's cavalry. In the wild rout of Senlac Senlac, 1066. 
Hill (October 14, 1066), Harold and his brothers were slain, 
and the cause of the English was lost. 

The Conquest. — Not yet, however, was the kingdom won. 
The Duke of Normandy had still to reckon with the Eng- 
lish people. When the news of Harold's defeat reached 
London, the Witan assembled and elected Edgar Atheling 
king. Realizing that a show of force was necessary, William 

1 Harold opposed the growing power of the monks, and his Archbishop 
Stigand recognized the authority of an anti-pope. 




Flight of the English 

Cuts from the Bayeux Tapestry 



The Conquest 69 

marched through Kent and Sussex, ravaging the lands of 
those who opposed him, up to the very gates of London. 
He hesitated to lay siege to the city, for he wished to pre- 
sent himself not as conqueror but as rightful successor to 
the crown. His forbearance was soon justified. The citi- 
zens of London, seeing that the northern earls made no 
movement in their behalf, opened the gates to the Norman 
and went through the form of electing him king. William 
was crowned on Christmas Day, 1066, in the beautiful abbey 
built by the Confessor at Westminster. 1 He took oath to 
" govern the English people as well as any king before him Anglo-Saxon 
had best done, if they would be faithful to him." William Chronicle - 
doubtless meant what he said. If the pledge was later 
broken and he showed himself stern, masterful, and indif- 
ferent to the suffering wrought by his soldiers, it was because 
the English revolted against his authority. 

When William was crowned king, only the southeastern Green, 
shires acknowledged his right to reign. The west and north pp ' 8l ~ 83 ' 
held out for Edgar. The Danelagh was difficult to subdue, 
and now, as many times before and after, resistance was re- 
enforced by the restless Welsh and Scots. For the better 
defence of his kingdom, William established viceregal juris- 
dictions in the disaffected districts, where his most trusted 
friends were placed in authority. Thus his half-brother, 
Odo, was made Earl of Kent, that he might be enabled to 
ward off attacks from across the Channel. Fitz-Osborn was 
made Earl of Hereford, and he, with the Earls of Chester 
and Shrewsbury, was expected to hold Wales in check. 2 
Durham was the seat of a fifth great earldom which served 
as bulwark against interference from the north. The subju- Traill, I, 
gation of the rebellious English occupied the years from 1067 2 3 I_2 35- 
to 1070. Mercia and Northumbria were reduced to submis- 
sion only by the severest measures. The insurgent districts 

1 Henceforth the kings of England were regularly crowned at West- 
minster. 

2 Many lesser men obtained royal license to conquer lands from the 
Welsh, and establishing themselves in strongholds along the border, be- 
came known as the Lord Marchers. 



JO Foreign Rule 

were punished (1069) for their loyalty to the English earls, 
by what was long remembered as the " wasting of the North." 
William gave orders that the land should be ravaged by fire 
and sword. Cities and villages were reduced to ashes and 
the crops destroyed. The helpless inhabitants were slaugh- 
tered or left to die of starvation. For fifty years to come, 
Yorkshire remained a wilderness. The wasted coast offered 
no booty to pirates, and the Danish invasions finally ceased. 

The fame of Norman cruelty and Norman prowess pre- 
ceded the king even to the frontiers of his terrified kingdom. 
Chester and the Welsh border submitted after brief resist- 
ance, and Malcolm, king of Scotland, acknowledged William 
as his overlord (1072). 

The unhappy Edgar took refuge at Edinburgh together 
with many other English refugees. The marriage of his 
sister Margaret to King Malcolm marks the beginning of a 
strong English influence at the court of Scotland. Hence- 
forth Lothian, 1 originally a part of Northumbria and still 
largely Saxon in blood and speech, made rapid advance in 
civilization. The Highlands remained pure Celt, each clan 
loyal to its own chieftain. 

The last stubborn stronghold of the English resistance 
was the Isle of Ely, lying inaccessible in the heart of the Fens. 
Here the Saxon malcontents rallied under the leadership 
of Hereward the Wake, who defended his island fortress 
with desperate but unavailing courage. 

Reign of William I (1066-1087). — The people so con- 
quered must now be held in subjection. In the task of 
governing his newly acquired kingdom, William proved 
himself preeminent in statecraft as he had hitherto been in 
war. He was most desirous of ruling as a lawful English 
sovereign, but the chaotic condition of the country neces- 
sitated a method of government hardly to be distinguished 
from a military occupation. The estates of the vanquished 
Saxon thanes were confiscated and made over to the Nor- 

1 The moorland country lying north of Tweed and south of the Firth of 
Forth. 



Reign of William I 



71 



man nobles, whose interests were identified with the interest 
of the king, and who could be relied upon to crush any 
incipient revolt on the part of the English. Some twenty 
thousand Frenchmen thus stepped into the places of as 
many Saxon landowners. William further guaranteed his 




Tower of London 



authority against Saxon and Norman alike by building, in 
all the principal towns, castles which he garrisoned with his 
own men. Many of these are still standing, notably the 
strong Tower of London. 

The Conqueror meant that the royal authority should be 



72 



Foreign Rule 



Mailland, 
pp. 150-172. 



Johnson, 
pp. 96-iK 



supreme through the length and breadth of the land. Eng- 
land had known no such kingship, not even in the days of 
Edgar. The great thanes, assembled in the Witan, had been 
accustomed to make laws for the nation, having power to 
elect and even to depose the king, but William and his suc- 
cessors rejected the Anglo-Saxon type of monarchy. In their 
interpretation the king was not the elected leader and repre- 
sentative of his people, but lord of the land and master of 
its inhabitants. Succession to the throne was henceforth 
by inheritance as to a private estate. With such concep- 
tions of the royal office, the form of election must soon 
lapse. 

William could not allow to any subject such power as 
had been wielded by Godwin and Harold. He soon abol- 
ished the great earldoms, with exception of Chester, Shrews- 
bury, and Durham. To a few favored followers were granted 
large estates, but these were scattered piecemeal in different 
parts of the country. The king reserved to himself the 
lion's share of the confiscated territories, and never relin- 
quished his prerogative as conqueror and landowner in chief. 
In granting lands to his vassals William made the most of 
his opportunity to impose more stringent conditions than 
had been customary in England or even in Normandy. 
Every vassal paid an annual rent, not, however, in money, 
but in military service. The specific terms of his tenure 
depended upon his rank and the extent of his fief. If the 
tenant failed in his duty, the grant might be recalled. In 
this way every great lord was bound to send his contingent 
to the king's army. The feudal relation — by which we are 
to understand the reciprocal obligations of lord and vassal, 
the lord granting land and protection, the vassal giving a 
stipulated service — prevailed throughout the Middle Ages 
both in England and on the Continent. It was the charac- 
teristic social tie not only between sovereign and tenant-in- 
chief, but between the king's vassals and their subtenants, 
between the subtenants and their dependents. King William 
did not introduce the feudal bond into his English posses- 



Reign of William I 73 

sions, 1 but he put upon it a new interpretation. Under his 

vigorous administration feudalism became a political system Green, 

that brought the wealth and fighting force of every land- PP- 8 3-8s. 8 & 

owner in the country under the king's control. In a great 

military concourse held at Salisbury (1086), William obliged The Oath of 

"all the landowners that were of account over all England" Salisbury. 

to take the oath of fealty to himself in person. Every 

man knelt before him, and placing his hands between those 

of his sovereign swore " to be faithful to the king before all 

other men." So did the astute Norman check the tendency 

to disintegration that was the bane of continental feudalism. 

While this oath was observed, no powerful vassal could 

gather his dependents to make war against the common 

overlord. 

All tenants-in-chief were summoned to meet the king in a 
Great Council three times a year, at Christmas, at Easter, 
and at Whitsuntide. This was apparently a continuation of 
the Witenagemot, and indeed the old name was for some 
time retained. It was, however, no longer a meeting of wise 
men, the counsellors of the king, but of principal landowners 
who came in feudal array, not to advise their sovereign but 
to render homage. With this change in character the 
authority of the assembly dwindled. The administration of 
the government was in the hands of the king's officers and 
the legislative and judicial functions of the Witenagemot 
were soon absorbed by the Curia Regis. 2 

In order that he might be fully informed as to the re- Traill. I, 
sources of his new domain, the king had a rent-roll compiled 2 36- 2 3 8 - 
• — the so-called Domesday Survey. This was at one and Domesday 
the same time a census, a land register, and an assessment Book, 
of property values, and the record remains of the highest Maitiand, 
utility to historians. This concern for accurate knowledge PP- 1 ~ 26 - 
of his realm is a mark of William's statesmanship, but the 

1 We have seen that the relation existed in Saxon times as a personal 
bond between king and thegn, thegn and ceorl, landowner and serf. 

2 The Curia Regis was the supreme court of justice presided over by the 
Icing's chief minister, entitled the justiciar. 



74 Foreign Rule 

inquiry was deeply resented by Englishmen of that day, 
since it heralded taxation. The Confessor had promised 
to abolish the Danegeld, but it was reimposed by the Con- 
queror, and at three times the former rate. 

The Salisbury oath and the Domesday Survey marked the 
climax of the Conqueror's work in England. He had suc- 
ceeded, for the time being, in bringing men of all ranks 
and races to acknowledge the duty of primary allegiance to 
the king. The next year he was engaged in war with his 
own overlord, Philip of France. At the siege of Mantes 
he received an injury from which he soon after died. 
Green, William Rufus (1087-1100). — In accordance with the 

pp. 89, 90. Conqueror's will, his eldest son Robert 1 succeeded him in 
Normandy, William, the second son, became king of Eng- 
land, while to Henry Beauclerc, the scholar of the family, 
was left a sum of ^5000 and some private estates. 

William II had inherited all the evil traits of his father, 
with none of the good. His greed was restrained by no sense 
of justice, his impetuous will was guided by no statesmanlike 
foresight. His kingship was merely an opportunity for indulg- 
ing to the full his fierce and unbridled passions. Ranulf, the 
justiciar, was his able accomplice. This man, nicknamed 
Flambard, " the firebrand," had won the favor of his royal 
patron by his ingenuity in devising new pretexts for wringing 
money from the reluctant purses of the king's subjects. In 
accordance with the continental version of the relations be- 
tween lord and vassal, the king had the entire control of 
the estates of a minor and might appropriate the income. 
On coming of age, the heir must pay a large sum of money 
(relief) for the privilege of entering upon his inheritance. 

1 The Norman kings : — 

William I, 1066-1087 
I 



I 1 i 1 

Robert William II, Henry I, 1100-1135 Adela, m. Stephen of Blois 

1087- 1 100 I I 

Matilda, m. Geoffrey of Anjou Stephen, 1135-1154 

Henry II, 1154-1189 



William Rufus 



75 



If the heir were a woman, the king could marry her to 
whomsoever he would. Choice of a husband was only 
conceded to the woman or her relatives on payment of 
a heavy fine. If there were no heirs or in case a vassal were 
convicted of felony, the estate lapsed (escheated) to the 
crown. Certain extraordinary " aids " might be demanded 
on the marriage of 
the king's eldest 
daughter, on the 
knighting of his 
eldest son, or, in 
case he was taken 
captive, for his 
ransom. All these 
services may be 
justified as medi- 
aeval forms of rent, 
and they were in 
turn required by 
the king's vassals 
of their subten- 
ants. Under a 
just administra- 
tion they were not 
exorbitant, but the 
Red King and 
Ranulf, ignoring 
all right and pre- 
cedent, set no 
bounds to their 
merciless greed. 
Their exactions 

fell most heavily upon the great Norman barons, and were 
by them promptly resented. Under the lead of Odo, Bishop 
of Bayeux, they revolted and declared for Robert, Duke of 
Normandy, the elder brother. The king in his extremity 
turned to his English subjects (1088), promising them to 




7 6 



Foreign Rule 



Green, 
pp. 90-92. 



Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle. 



Kendall, 
pp. 49-51. 



abide by the English laws and to forbid all unjust imposts. 
They responded to his appeal and furnished the force of 
twenty thousand men with which the attack of the barons 
was repulsed. The revolt once suppressed, however, the 
king renewed his cruel practices. In this only did he keep 
his promise of good government : he allowed no tyranny 
but his own. 

Henry I (1100-1135). — In 1100, William Rufus was 
killed while hunting in the New Forest, and Henry Beauclerc 
was chosen king. This wise prince had shown himself an 
able ruler in his little Norman province, and his accession 
brought a much needed peace to England. The king 
desired first of all to be on good terms with his English 
subjects. With this in view he married Edgyth, the niece 
of Edgar the Atheling and daughter of the king of Scots. 1 
Her name, which was impossible to a French tongue, was 
changed to Matilda. The Norman courtiers gave to the 
Saxon princess but a grudging welcome ; they mocked the 
popular sympathies of the king and queen by giving them 
the homely English names, Godrich and Godiva. But 
Henry recked nothing of their merriment. He had "prom- 
ised God and all the people to put down all the injustices 
that were in his brother's time, and to maintain the best 
laws that stood in any king's day before him." The charter, 
granted at his accession, became the model for all subse- 
quent guarantees of good government. The Red King's 
justiciar, Ranulf, was thrown into the Tower of London, and 
such officers were appointed as wombS^ightly administer the 
government. The local courts of the shir^e and hundred 
were restored, and the king's agents made the regular circuits 
through the land to execute justice and collect the royal 
revenues. 2 Law and order were so far maintained that King 
Henry was called the Lion of Justice. Yet the imposts 

1 This alliance brought the Normans into friendly relations with the Scotch 
court. Edgyth's brothers renewed the oath of homage to the king of 
England. 

2 These were the itinerant justices who visited the shire courts to assess 
taxes and administer the laws. 



Stephen 77 

levied in his name weighed heavily upon the people, and 
the Chronicle bitterly complains of the sore oppression of 
the land. The malcontent nobles leagued against him. 
Flambard, who had escaped from the Tower, and Robert 
of Belleme, the powerful Earl of Shrewsbury, concerted with 
Robert of Normandy a revolt against the king, purposing 
to place Duke Robert on the throne. Rallying to his aid Green, 
the English and the lesser vassals, Henry worsted his foes, pp- 9 6 . 97- 
In the decisive battle of Tinchebrai (1106), the two Roberts 
were taken prisoners, and Normandy came into the posses- 
sion of the English king. Duke Robert lingered out his 
days a captive in Cardiff Castle, and the Norman nobles, 
deprived of pretext for revolt, never again lifted hand against 
Henry. In 1135 this good king died, and the land fell a 
prey to civil war. 

Stephen (1135-1154). — The barons had promised the Green, 
dying Henry to place his daughter Matilda on the throne ; pp- IOI-I °4- 
but the kingdom was a turbulent one to be ruled by a 
woman, and the influence of her foreign husband, Geoffrey 
of Anjou, was dreaded by the English. There was a rival 
claimant, Stephen of Blois, son of the Conqueror's daughter 
Adela. His cause was championed by the citizens of 
London, who hoped that he would be able to maintain the 
peace and good order so essential to commercial prosperity. 
Stephen was chosen king by the barons and soon after 
crowned at Westminster. But the hope of the Londoners 
was doomed to disappointment. In 1140, Matilda came 
to England to urge her claims. Her cause was supported 
by divers of the great nobles, who were, however, less con- 
cerned to maintain her right than to defy the royal authority. 
The weak, unstable character of Stephen gave them favorable 
opportunity to assert their independence. " When the Anglo-Saxon 
traitors perceived that he was a mild man and soft and good Chronicle, 
and did no justice, then did they all wonder. . . . Every II37 " 
powerful man built himself castles and held them against 
the king and they filled the land full of castles. They 
cruelly oppressed the wretched men of the land with castle- 



7* 



Foreign Rule 



works. When the castles were made they filled them with 
devils and evil men. Then took they those men that they 
imagined had any property, both by night and by day, 
peasant men and women, and put them in prison for their 
gold and their silver, and tortured them with unutterable 
torture. . . . Many thousands were killed with hunger ; and 




Bntton, Picturesque Antiquities of the English Cities 

that lasted the nineteen years while Stephen was king, and 
ever it was worse and worse. They laid imposts on the 
towns continually and called it ' censerie ' ; when the wretched 
men had no more to give, they robbed and burned all the 
towns, so that thou mightest well go all a day's journey and 
thou shouldst never find a man sitting in a town or the land 
tilled. Corn, flesh, and cheese there was none in the land. 
. . . Men said openly that Christ and his saints slept." 
The anarchy of these miserable years taught the English a 



Social Results of the Conquest 79 

long-needed lesson, that there could be no peace or pros- 
perity except the king was strong enough to enforce the 
laws. 

Stephen made slow headway against the rebellion. He 
did not seek the support of the English as Henry had done, 
but foolishly spent his treasure in hiring foreign mercenaries, 
who were even more cruel than the barons and alienated 
the people from the royal cause. Still Matilda could not 
win the kingdom. In the battle of Lincoln (1140) Stephen 
was taken prisoner, and for a few months Henry's daughter 
triumphed ; but she proved to be a harsh and vengeful 
mistress. London revolted, and the great barons renewed 
their allegiance to Stephen. The Angevin cause seemed 
all but lost when it was taken up and brought to a trium- 
phant issue by Matilda's son, the young Henry Plantagenet. 1 Henry 
Though but nineteen years of age, this prince was already of Anjou. 
lord of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Aquitaine, and ruled 
these restless . provinces with a strong hand. Arriving in 
England in 1 153, he rallied his mother's adherents about 
him and made such rapid progress that Stephen was fain to 
treat for peace. A compromise was negotiated by the 
archbishop of Canterbury, in the treaty of Wallingford Treaty of 
(1153). The king had just lost his only son, Eustace. He Wallingford 
agreed, on condition that he might retain the crown during 
his life, to recognize Henry as his son and heir. So the 
long strife came to an end. When Stephen died in the next 
year, Henry was beyond sea ; " but no man durst do other 
than good for the great awe of him." On his return he was 
crowned king and entered into undisputed possession of his 
inheritance. 

Social Results of the Conquest. — The followers of William 
had succeeded in establishing themselves in possession of 
every post of power and profit throughout the kingdom. 
Some forty Norman villages gave title to the great estates, 
and no English names were to be found among the tenants- 

1 The family nickname from planta genista, the broom-plant, a sprig of 
which Count Geoffrey usually wore in his hat. 



[53- 



80 Foreign Rule 

in-chief until a century after the Conquest. Latin was the 
language of the Church and the law, French that of the court. 
Only the lower orders spoke English. Continental influ- 
ences are evident in the literary revival that marked the reign 
of the scholar son of the Conqueror. The national annals 
were elaborated in flowing Latin. Henry of Huntingdon 
enlivened the records of Bede and the Chronicle with the 
war-songs of the Saxons. William of Malmesbury recounted 
not only English but European history with an eye to 
causes and results. The ancient legends of Arthur were 
rehearsed in Monmouth's History of the Britons, while Eng- 
lish feeling found expression in the Proverbs of Alfred. 
The separation between the two races, the conquering 
Source-Book anc * tne conquered, was wide and deep. Contempt and 
pp. 41-44. tyranny on the one hand, fear and hate on the other, pro- 
longed the antagonism to which the harsh methods of the 
Conquest had given rise. The subject Saxons bore with 
sullen ill-will the burdens imposed by the haughty Norman 
lords, and availed themselves of every opportunity for re- 
venge. Time and again the people made common cause 
with the king in his struggle with the feudal aristocracy. 

The external effects of the Norman Conquest were preg- 
nant with result. First of all, England was brought into 
close relation with the Continent. The Conqueror ruled 
Normandy and England as one kingdom. His great barons 
held estates on both sides the Channel, and much journey- 
ing between the French and English territories became 
necessary. Under William Rufus, Normandy and England 
were independent, but Tinchebrai gave Normandy to Henry 
I, and the duchy and the kingdom remained united for a 
hundred years thereafter. This political connection brought 
about intercourse with the Continent, such as had not 
existed since Britain was a Roman colony. Commerce 
revived ; merchants ventured to undertake a European trade, 
carrying to France, Flanders, and Germany the agricultural 
products of England. In exchange they brought back the 
fine cloths, furs, wines, and other luxuries required by the 



Social Results of the Conquest 81 

Norman gallants. Lead and tin were again exported, 
while iron, the art of smelting having fallen out of use, 
was fetched from the Baltic coast. The precious metals, 
especially silver, were imported in considerable quantity. 
The coinage of money was guarded as a royal prerogative. 
Commercial operations necessitated a uniform currency, and 




Norman House at Lincoln called the Jews' House 

Gardiner, A Student's History of 'England 

this could be secured only by doing away with the private 
moneyers. The Jews, 1 the financiers of the Middle Ages, Green, 
were encouraged to settle in the towns under guarantee of PP- 86 > 8 7- 
the king's protection. Trade ventures carried men far 
abroad, to Paris, to Marseilles, to Venice, and the Orient. 
The high-priced dainties they brought back in their brave 

1 They were confined to special districts, the Jevvrys, where they lived 
on sufferance merely. 
G 



82 Foreign Rule 

ships were not their most valuable cargo. Strange tales of 
foreign lands and customs, marvellous stories of romance 
and adventure, wisdom won by contact with superior civili- 
zations, — these were the imports that affected most deeply 
the life of the English people. 

Intellectual Results. — Furthermore, the Conquest brought 
England into touch with the learning of the Continent. 
From the Universities of Bologna and Paris, from the 
renowned Abbey of Bee, came Lanfranc and Anselm and 
many less famous scholars and ecclesiastics, who cultivated 
Johnson, the Latin tongue and the continental authors and inspired 
pp. no-114. tne Engijgh Church with a new zeal for letters. Thousands 
of English youths took upon themselves monk's vows, not 
in religious devotion, but because the monastery afforded 
the only opportunity for the scholar's life. The intellectual 
labors of these devotees of learning were confined to the 
transcription of Latin manuscripts, sacerdotal and classical, 
and the embellishment of the national annals. The worldly- 
minded ecclesiastic found at the court a more congenial 
employment. Since the monks were the only learned men 
of the day, they were almost exclusively employed by the 
Norman kings in the administration of the government. 
Hence resulted a notable modification of political theory. 
Monastic training instilled into the thought of these cowled 
chancellors the conceptions of law and government that had 
been handed down by the Church as part of her heritage 
from imperial Rome. Doctrines of the king's supremacy 
and the subject's duty of unquestioning obedience are not 
of English origin, but derived from the Continent. They 
were imported into England by Norman priests. 

Exaltation of the King's Authority. — Theory was most 
effectively enforced by facts. The greedy misrule of the 
barons taught men the need of authority. The supremacy 
of the king came to be regarded as the safeguard of the 
subject against political anarchy such as had devasted Eng- 
land under Edward the Confessor and the feeble Stephen. 
The Normans brought to the task of administration a 



Relations of Church and State 83 

capacity for organization, a sense of law and method, such Traill, I, 
as England had never known. From the royal officers might 23 *' 243, 
be expected a more uniform justice than was meted out in 
the local courts, and men were willing to pay dear for such 
protection. Neither the stern cruelty of William nor the 
heavy taxes imposed by his sons could obliterate the remem- 
brance of "the good peace they had made in the land." Anglo-Saxon 
Throughout this period king and barons were enga^d in Chromcle - 
a well-matched contest for mastery. The ambitious vas- 
sals maintained a prolonged resistance against the royal 
authority. Again and again the strife broke out, in the 
revolt of Hereford and Northumberland against the Con- 
queror, in the opposition of the barons to the exactions of 
William Rufus, in the rising against Henry I led by Flam- 
bard, in the contemptuous anarchy of the great lords under 
Stephen. It was a veritable tug MHfcU'- in which the kings 
were forced to fall back on the suj|^t of the English, and 
to make promises to observe the ancient laws in charters 
that established a precedent of mutual obligation. 

Relations of Church and State. — In the long struggle Traill, I, 
between king and barons, the clergy as a rule cast their 247 ~ 254 - 
weight on the side of royalty ; and yet, influenced by the 
mounting ambition of the popes, the Church asserted 
privileges which not infrequently brought her into antago- 
nism with the throne. Rome had hoped from William's 
invasion of England closer relations between the Papal See 
and the English Church, and these anticipations were in 
some degree realized. There followed close upon the Con- 
quest a revival of ecclesiasticism. The Norman clergy in- Green, 
troduced into England the stricter discipline imposed upon pp - 8s ' 86 
the continental Church by Gregory VII. Celibacy was en- 
forced among the superior clergy, although the parish priests 
were left to keep their wives if they would. The incoming 
of the Cistercians, whose voluntary poverty and severe ascet- 
icism attracted the admiration and devotion of the people, 
gave a new impulse to monasticism. 

The enhanced zeal of the clergy was reflected in the in- 



8 4 



For, 



Ride 



creased devotion of the people. Tangible evidence of this 
aspect of the Conquest remains to us in the beautiful 
Norman churches raised by the gifts of the faithful. The 




Side Aisle of White Chapel, Tower of London 

Clark, Medieval Military Architecture of England 



simple structures of wood and stone that had seemed ade- 
quate to Saxon England gave place to grand cathedrals, 
built in the ornate, round-arch fashion, that was the glory 
of Normandy. 



Relations of Church and State 85 

William's attitude toward the Church was that of the able 
ruler who sees that the clergy may serve an important func- 
.tion in maintaining order and in rallying the people to the 
support of the king. He deposed the English prelates and 
appointed Normans in their stead, thus securing his own 
influence in all the superior offices ; but the clerics so ap- 
pointed were selected with an eye to their churchmanship 
as well as to their loyalty. Lanfranc, who superseded Lanfranc^ 
Stigand as Archbishop of Canterbury, was one of the most 
learned and able ecclesiastics of his day. William further 
converted the Church hierarchy to his purpose by requiring 
from each bishop and abbot the oath of homage and such 
feudal service as would be due from a lay lord holding the 
same lands. The Church was thus feudalized, and every 
acre of monastery land and every parish glebe ' was made 
to render its quota to the royal treasury. 

The Conqueror was a faithful son of the Church, and yet 
the pretensions of Gregory VII to supreme authority in 
ecclesiastical affairs were met by uncompromising denial. 
The wise and wary king won from the Pope, whose will no 
other European monarch had been able to withstand, most 
important concessions. No excommunication was to be 
declared in England without the king's leave. No papal 
bull could be received or executed without his consent. 
Legislation in Church synod was subject to his veto. In- 
dependent ecclesiastical courts were allowed, having juris- 
diction over the moral offences of clergy and laity ; but in 
the case of laymen the penalty could be inflicted only with 
the king's consent. Appointments to ecclesiastical office 
were to be made by the secular power. 

The questions thus settled by the friendly mediation of 
Lanfranc were destined to be reopened again and again 
and to vex statesmen for centuries to come. For example, 
the right of appointment to ecclesiastical office, which had 
been readily conceded to the great William, was challenged 

1 The land belonging to a parish church and assigned to the use of its 
-.lergy. 



86 



Foreign Rule 



in the reign of Henry I. Anselm, the saintly successor of 
Lanfranc, refused to consecrate the bishops who had re- 
ceived appointment 1 from the king. The conflicting claims 
of king and pope were again compromised. Prelates were 
to be elected by the clergy, but in the king's presence. The 
ring and the crosier, symbols of the spiritual function, were 
to be bestowed by the pope, while the newly elected bishop 
or abbot was to render homage to the king for his estates. 

Life of the People. — Upon the life of the common peo- 
ple the effect of the Conquest is not easily ascertained. The 
early annalists were so fully occupied in recounting the deeds 
Traill, I, of rich and powerful personages that they told little of the 

pp. 240-243. aS pj ra tions, the achievements, the failures, of the humble 
men and women who tilled the fields, and wove the cloth, 
and performed the thousand tasks without which the proj- 
ects of king and statesman could avail nothing for the 
welfare of the nation. It was wholly an agricultural people. 
Every man was related to the land by tenure free or unfree. 
Even the towns possess outlying fields in which each 
burgher had his share. The population of England in the 
eleventh century was about one million five hundred thou- 
sand. Judging from data afforded by the Domesday Sur- 
vey, only five per cent were nobles and ecclesiastical digni- 
taries. 2 The remaining ninety- five per cent were subtenants, 
small landed proprietors, serfs, and slaves. The principal 
Saxon landholders were, as has been seen, dispossessed by 
the Conquest ; but the tillers of the soil were left in undis- 
turbed possession. Speaking the Saxon tongue, ministered 
to by Saxon priests, observing the social and political cus- 
toms of their ancestors, they lived their own life and were 
Cunning- j^ affecte(l by the c h an ge of masters. They toiled on in 
pp. 30-39. the ancient rural communities (called manors in the Nor- 

iThe right of appointing the successor to a spiritual benefice was claimed 
by the king since the incumbent was a vassal, by the Pope since he was an 
ecclesiastic. 

2 Census of adult males, 1085 : vassals of the crown, lay, 600, ecclesiastical, 
994; subtenants, 7871; free proprietors, 33,169; serfs, 206,900; slaves, 
25,156; burgesses, 7968. 




From an old print in The Universal Magazine 
CLOSING SENTENCE AND SIGNATURES OF THE CHARTER OF BATTLE 



T>lt alvjf ^e Ltafomv men. \f bomitnl/ JU<j<i \c luo adr ^oOf m Urou>htu 
&c&£pe/a\de \\SomrA <qu\<h> concetti KS <juaf ecro eulr ^x^ Jtit^lif cocecU 
# prdenn kftpco vr Inpi«Ji<!2a. lt^aU iui&jjniare' ccufirmo. 

ijmuJw^ sydfLvw fiscui«fas«s todiAWfte 

ImHAMntj^Cai^T^i!/!^^^ Ofl^lnvi tp £«£ f,.Ct»Tc«?»(^rf^J W^FW Je Wi- 
lbur il a? <J J lun£ (Jwjtclu^tfsRaf^ VC'ltWlt) ConJ-Jf^tiC. Ptaij jAg^JttfVumaSS 

And if any one of my Barons or men shall have given anything of his own to the 
same church as alms, I grant and by the present charter, as by the aforesaid royal 
authority, confirm to them the same liberties which I granted in those matters which 
I gave to the same church. 



Willelmus rex 
King William 
Lanfrancus Arch. Cant'. 
Lanfranc, Archbishop of 

Canterbury 

Maurici s ep's Lund s . 

Maurice, Bishop of 

London 



Walkeliri e/ s . \Vint s Hugo comes Cestren* Willelm s Fili s Osb s 

Walkelin, Bishop of Hugh, Earl of Chester William Fitz Osbem 

Winchester Roger* com s de Willelm* de Brai s 

Osberniis efs Exon s . Muntgum? William de Braoise 

Osbern, Bishop of Exeter Roger, Earl of Bcrnard s de novo 
Gundulf* efs Rof s Montgomery merc s . 

Gundulf, Bishop of Willelm* Com s de War s Bernard of Newmarch 

Rochester William, Earl of Warren 



Tomas archp. Ebor s 
Thomas, Archbishop of York. 



88 



Foreign Rule 



Rectitudines 
Singularum 

Personarum . 



Maitland, 
pp. 36-66. 



man speech), cultivating the land they had inherited from 
their fathers, and rendering to the new lord the labor, money, 
or product services required by local usage. A quaint docu- 
ment of the tenth century gives us detailed information as 
to the duties and privileges of the serf or villein. His ser- 
vices are " various, in some places heavy, in others moder- 
ate." He is required to work on his lord's land two days a 
week throughout the year and three days a week through the 
spring ploughing and planting and during harvest. Other 
special services (boon- work) must be rendered upon de- 
mand. " From Martinmas to Easter, he shall lie at his 
lord's fold as often as he is bid." He may be asked to 
fetch and carry, but " if he do carrying, he is not to work 
while his horse is out." The remaining time he is free to 
use on his own land. On certain of the great Church fes- 
tivals, — the characteristic marks of time in the mediaeval 
calendar, — each villein must bring to the manor house a 
stipulated contribution in money or produce. On Michael- 
masday, he pays tenpence rent ; on Martinmasday, 1 thirty- 
three sesters of barley and two hens ; at Easter, a young 
sheep or twopence. It is the duty of the serfs to feed the 
lord's hounds and to maintain the village swineherd, to whom 
each man gives six loaves " when he goes to mast." The 
lord, for his part, provides his serf with thirty acres of land 
and an " outfit " ; i.e. two oxen, one cow, and six sheep, tools 
for his work, and utensils for his house. " Then when he 
dies, his lord takes back what he leaves." To secure the 
fulfilment of these numerous and complicated services 
required sedulous attention ; and for this purpose the lord 
of the manor, often an absentee, employed a steward or 
bailiff. His was a hateful task, and mediaeval literature 
abounds in sarcastic allusions to his greed and cunning. 
Serf labor seems a cumbersome method of getting work 
done, but it was the form of service most convenient in a 
feudal society because it did not require direct supervision. 



1 The feast of St. Michael, September 29. The feast of St. Martin, 
November 11. 



Life of the People 89 

It was to every man's interest to cultivate his own plot of 
land to the best of his knowledge and ability. On the de- 
mesne land 1 he gave but a grudging service. 

The Domesday Survey reports only twenty-five thousand Traill, I, 
slaves, and after the eleventh century the number rapidly 356-360. 
decreased. This was in part a consequence of the influence 
of Lanfranc and other churchmen like the good Bishop Maitiand, 
Wulfstan, and of the edict against the slave trade issued by pp - 26 ~3 6 - 
the Conqueror, but it was due even more to the prevalence 
of the feudal relation, with which property in human beings 
was inconsistent. 

The free proprietors formed only twelve per cent of the Maitiand, 
population, and they were to be found for the most part in PP- 66 ~79- 
the north among the recent Danish settlements. In the 
south, the feudal obligation was well-nigh universal. 

Life within the manor was rude and simple in the extreme. 
The administration of government was in the hands of the 
lord of the manor. The ancient tungemot became the 
court leet, whose presiding officer was the lord's steward. 
Weighty cases might be referred to the shire court, where 
the community was still represented by its reeve and four 
best men. Otherwise, communication with the outside 
world, even with the neighboring villages, was of rare occur- 
rence. Iron implements, millstones, salt, and spices must 
be brought from a distance, but food, shelter, and clothing 
were amply provided by local industries. The methods of 
agriculture were primitive, and much of the land lay unre- 
claimed and waste. Perhaps not more than one-fifth of the 
cultivable area of England was in use. The people naturally 
sought the fertile fields of the southeast, while the less 
hospitable regions of the west and north were but sparsely 
settled. 

Fully three-fourths of the population of mediaeval England 
was agricultural, the proportion between urban and rural in- Traill, I 
habitants being about what it is in Ireland to-day. Mention 360-367. 

1 The demesne was that part of the estate which the lord reserved for 
his own use. It was worked by serf or slave or (later) by hired labor. 



90 



Foreign Rule 



Mailland, 

pp. 172-219. 



Green, 
pp. 92-94. 



is made in the Domesday Survey of eighty towns, but only six 
of these were more than large villages. The most prosperous 
towns were seaports. London and Southampton controlled 
the trade between southern England and the continent. 
Norwich brought the products of the eastern counties 
within reach of the sea, while the western districts found an 
outlet at Bristol. York, Lincoln, Winchester, and Oxford 
were ancient fortified places of great strategic importance 
The Conquest tended to foster the growth of cities, since it 




Keep Tower, Lincoln Castle 

Jritton, Picturesque Antiquities of the English Cities 



not only opened new commercial opportunities on the Con- 
tinent, but, by bringing the warring sections of England under 
one strong administration, facilitated internal trade. Feudal 
law, moreover, allowed that serfs escaping to a town and 
remaining unclaimed a year and a day acquired freedom. 
Considerable additions were thus made to the urban popu- 
lation. Increasing by rapid strides in numbers, wealth, and 
influence, the townsmen were soon in position to buy from 
the king or overlord charters of liberty that secured for 
them, in return for an annual tax, freedom from further im- 



Life of the People 91 

posts and practical self-government. London boasts a 
charter signed by the Conqueror. The affairs of the bur- 
gesses were apparently held quite beneath the notice of the 
royal court and its chroniclers, and the towns were thought of 
only as a source of revenue, yet in the silent, unheeded 
growth of these trading communities there was preparing a 
power destined to play a notable part in the nation's history. 




Seal of William I 

Important Events 

Reign of Canute, 1017-1035. 

Edgar's laws are adopted by the Witan, 1018. 
Civil War, 1035-1042. 
Reign of Edward the Confessor, 1042- 1066. 

Exile of Godwin, 105 1. 

Rebellion of Tostig, 1065. 

Battle of Hastings, 1066. 
Reign of William I, 1066-1087. 

Conquest achieved, 1 066-1070. 

Domesday Survey, 1085. 

Salisbury Oath, 1086. 
Reign of William Rufus, 1087-1100. 

Normandy held in pledge, I 096-1 10© 
Reign of Henry I, 11 00-1135. 

Conquest of Normandy, 1 106. 
Reign of Stephen, 11 35-1 154. 

Treaty of Wallingford, 11 53. 



92 Foreign Ride 



?! 












S U K 






W ^ 2 Si 



b a 



.2 b-c 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FUSTON OF RACES 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 

Adams and Stephens, Select Documents of English Constitutional History. 
Stubbs, Select Charters of English Constitutional History. 
Barnard, F., Strongholds Conquest of Ireland. 
Hutton, St. Thomas of Canterbury. 

Special Authorities 

Norgate, England under the Angevin Kings. 
Ramsay, The Angevin Empire. 

Stubbs, Constitutional History, Early Plantagenets, Historical Introduc- 
tions. 
Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law. 
Ashley, Introduction to English Economic History. 
Vinogradoff, Villainage in England. 
Adams, Political History of England, Vol. II. 
Davis, England from 1066— 1272. 

Imaginative Literature 
Tennyson, Becket. 
Scott, Ivanhoe. 

Henry of Anjou (1154-1189). 1 — Henry II was only twen- Green, Henry 

ty-one when he came to the throne of England, but already u 
J ° ■' J pp. 15-20. 

1 The Plantagenets : — 

Henry II, 1154-1189, m. Eleanor of Guienne, divorced wife of Louis VII 

I , 

I i i i I 

Henry, Richard I, Geoffrey, m. Constance John, m. Isabella Eleanor, m. king 
d. 1183 1189-1199 d. 1186 of Brittany 1199-1216 ofAngouleme of Castile 

Arthur, d. 1203 Blanche, m. 

Louis VIII of France 

93 



Source-Book. 



PP- 39-43- 



94 The Fusion of Races 

men had learned " to bear him great love and fear." Born 
of two remarkable races, he inherited the strong qualities of 
pp. 56-58. each. His instinct of government, his untiring industry, and 
his practical wisdom were Norman, but he was Angevin in 
his patience, his craftiness, and his tenacity. The contrasts 
of his character were as marked as was its power. He was 
passionately fond of the chase, but he was the most learned 
ruler of his time, and he delighted in the society of scholars. 
His irreverence was equalled only by his superstition. He 
would scheme long and patiently, only to spoil all his work 
by a moment's savage, uncontrolled rage. His energy and 
vitality were extraordinary. In the whole of England there 
was no harder worker than the king. 
Green, Henry Condition of England. — All Henry's power and energy 
Me Second, vvere nee( | e d f or the task before him. In England order 
was to be restored, a rebellious baronage to be curbed, and 
the Church, menacingly strong and conscious of its strength, 
to be brought within bounds. There were, moreover, new 
problems to be faced. The England over which Henry of 
Anjou was called to rule was not the England of his grand- 
father's time. The twelfth century was marked by a great 
intellectual and industrial awakening of western Europe, 
and in spite of anarchy and misrule, England felt the influ- 
ence of the spirit of the age. The new zeal for learning 
showed itself in the communities of scholars springing up 
under the protection of the Church, and the one hundred 
and fifteen monasteries built during Stephen's reign bore 
splendid testimony to the revival of religious interest. In- 
dustrial development kept pace with the expanding intel- 
lectual and spiritual life. Trade and commerce took a 
fresh start, the towns were growing in size and importance, 
and a strong middle class was coming into existence. Out- 
side the towns, the Cistercian monks, the model farmers of 
the age, were at work changing the face of the country. 
Planting their settlements on the dreary moorlands, or in 
remote valleys, they drained swamps, built roads, and re- 
claimed new lands. Under their influence England was 



Pacification of England 



95 



fast becoming the chief wool-growing centre of western 
Europe. It was an age of movement and change, and the 
rules and systems suited to the needs of a simpler society 
were beginning to break down under the more complex con- 
ditions of national life. A new order demanded new laws. 

Henry's Position on the Continent. — The full measure 
of Henry's great task cannot be realized, however, unless 



nterests were not bounded by 



one keeps in mind that his 
England. Henry was a 
continental ruler before he 
was an English king, and 
the guiding principle in the 
policy of the early part of 
his reign was his ambition 
to found a great Anglo- 
Angevin empire. But his 
position on the Continent 
as well as in England was 
full of difficulty. To his in- 
herited territories he had 
added Aquitaine by his mar- 
riage with its duchess in 
1 152, and later he acquired 
the overlordship of Brittany. 
His great possessions were 
held together by no common 

tie, except that of subjection 

, . V, . . r Byland Abbey, West End 

to himself, and in many of 

them his title was disputed. Moreover, he stood between 

two foes : on the one hand were his vassals jealous of the 

interference of one who was to them almost a foreigner, on 

the other was his suzerain lord, the king of France, eagerly 

watching for a chance to make trouble. 

Pacification of England. — Henry's first work was to 

carry out the provisions of the treaty of Wallingford. The 

Flemish mercenaries were sent home, many of the castles 

were destroyed, the courts of justice reestablished. In 




Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets 
pp. 47-49- 



Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets , 
pp. 40-44, 46. 



DOMINIONS OF THE 

HOUSE OF ANJOU 



Dominions of the House of Anjou, 




pp. 79. 80. 



Judicial and Administrative Reforms 97 

rapid journeyings north and west he brought the rebellious 
border chieftains to terms and wrung homage from the 
princes of Wales and the king of Scots. In the work of 
reestablishing the government Henry was aided by wise 
ministers. His justiciar, Richard de Lucy, the Loyal, 
served his master and his country faithfully for many 
years; but greatest among the men who surrounded the Thomas 
king was his chancellor and friend, Thomas of London, of London, 
known in later times as Thomas Becket. The son of Gr ^n, Henry 
a London burgher, Thomas had raised himself to emi- 
nence by his brilliant accomplishments and his marked 
business ability. He was appointed chancellor in 1 155 and Source-Book, 
became in a few months the second man in the kingdom, pp. 59, 60. 
A close friendship sprang up between the king and his minis- 
ter, and during the prosperous years of Becket's chancellor- 
ship they worked together as of one heart and one mind. 

Judicial and Administrative Reforms. — With the restora- Bright, 1, 
tion of order Henry could turn to that work of judicial and 89, 9 °" 
administrative reorganization which more than anything 
else was to give him a place among the makers of England. 
That his primary object was to consolidate his own power 
does not lessen the value of the results to the country. 
The need for reform was great. Five or six different legal 
systems 1 were administered in as many different courts. 
The men who gave judgment spoke a language unknown to Green, Henry 
the judged. Old and cumbersome forms of procedure Me Second, 
handed down from primitive times were still retained, and 
the result of a trial was more often injury than redress. To 
remedy these evils men were wont to look to the king, since 
he was the source of justice and his will was law. It was 
Henry's great merit that he replaced the personal, irregular 
interference of the crown by a well-understood, permanent, 
and uniform system of administration. 

Henry reorganized the central judicial courts, the Curia 

1 The most important legal systems were the English common law, the 
feudal law, the canon law, which was derived mainly from the Roman civil 
law, and the forest law. In addition each manor and town had its own 
peculiar customs, 

H 



pp. 49-62. 



98 The Fusion of Races 

Green, Regis and the Exchequer, and, to make their great powers 

more effectual, he sent itinerant judges from these courts into 
each shire to try all important civil and criminal cases. Fur- 
thermore, by two decrees, the Grand Assize and the Assize 
of Clarendon, the Norman principle of recognition or inquiry 

Trial by on oath was applied in many suits. If it were a question of the 

J ury ' title to land, twelve sworn men of the district, chosen indirectly 

by the sheriff, were to decide the matter on their own knowl- 
edge or on information from others. If they could not agree 
in their judgment, other men were added until twelve were 
found of one mind. A similar method was used in criminal 
cases. Jurors, sworn men of the neighborhood, were to accuse 
before the shire court all whom they thought guilty of crime. 
They were under oath to speak the truth, hence their accusa- 
tion was called a verdict (vere dicta), and there was no appeal 
from it save to the ordeal. Even if a man stood that test, he was 
bound to leave the kingdom as one of evil repute. It is from 
these juries of recognition and presentment that, by a long 
series of changes, our modern jury system has been evolved. 
Throughout the troubled years that were to follow the 
prosperous beginning of Henry's reign, the work of reform 
steadily continued. The results were of far-reaching im- 
portance. The royal treasury was enriched and the 
royal authority strengthened by the increased business 
of the king's courts ; at the same time the hold of the 
barons on their vassals was weakened, for the revival of the 
shire courts was at the expense of private jurisdictions. 
Moreover, through their enforced service on the local 
juries, Englishmen received a training in public work that 
fitted them as nothing else could have done for the part they 
were to play at a later day in the government of the nation. 
Henry and the Church. — It was as a part of his scheme 
for the ordering of his realm, that Henry, on his return 
to England in 1163 after a long stay on the Continent, 
brought forward the question of the relations of Church and 

Green, Henry g tate> m s desire was to establish one law for all England, 

the Second, .... . . , 

pp< 83-87. but a great body of his subjects stood wholly outside the 



Quarrel between the King and the Archbishop 99 

secular law. The clerical order, which at this time included 
most of the educated and professional classes except sol- 
diers, had freed itself entirely from the civil jurisdiction. 
Now the Church could not inflict bodily punishment, hence, 
no matter how serious the offence, a priest convicted of 
crime need fear nothing worse than degradation, fine, or 
imprisonment. As a result evil-doers often evaded justice 
by declaring themselves clerks, 1 and crime and lawlessness 
went unpunished. The state of things was a scandal to the 
Church as well as a danger to the realm. It was certain, 
however, that the ecclesiastical order would not relinquish 
its privileges without a struggle, and it was in the hope of 
meeting the opposition of the Church from within that Henry, 
in 1 162, forced the vacant primacy upon his trusted adviser. 
Thomas held back at first, but Henry was determined to 
have his way, and at length the chancellor yielded and be- 
came Archbishop of Canterbury. He at once resigned the Bright, I, 
chancellorship, and with even more speed than he had pp- 93- iqi - 
formerly " put off the deacon " to enter the service of the 
king, he cut himself loose from all secular ties and identified 
himself with the Church. In his old friend and fellow-worker 
Henry met now his most formidable opponent. 

Quarrel between the King and the Archbishop. — It was, 
however, over a question, not of Church privilege, but of 
constitutional right, that the two men first crossed swords. 
In a great council held at Woodstock in July, n 63, Thomas 
resisted the king's attempt to levy the old danegeld. Henry 
was forced to give way, and for the first time in English 
history the will of the king in money matters was suc- 
cessfully opposed. It was not long before Thomas again 
thwarted Henry, and this time it was an ecclesiastical ques- 
tion upon which he made a stand. The matter at issue was 
the trial of a clerk charged with crime. The king wished 
to have the accused tried before the royal courts, but 
Thomas maintained that the case belonged to the Church. 
He agreed finally to abide by the " customs " of the realm. 

1 The accepted evidence of being a clerk was ability to read and write, 
or even simply to sing. 



LOFC. 



100 



The Fusion of Races 



Green, 

pp. 106-109. 
Green, Henry 
the Second, 
pp. 97-101. 



Constitu- 
tions of 
Clarendon. 



To decide what those customs were, a great council was 
held at Clarendon in 1164. There the ancient usages, col- 
lected and written down by some of the oldest and wisest 
of the nobles, were read before the assembled bishops and 
baronage. 

For six days the council discussed the Constitutions of 
Clarendon, as the report is called. Some of the articles 
passed unchallenged, but others roused bitter opposition. 
The ecclesiastical courts were allowed to retain much of their 
jurisdiction, but in case of doubt the Curia Regis was to 
decide where the suit belonged. A clerk accused of crime 
was to be tried in the secular courts, and if convicted the 
Church should not interfere to protect him. The arch- 
bishop passionately refused to set his seal to the Constitu- 
tions and withdrew from the council. A few months later, 
fearing for his life, he fled across the Channel to take refuge 
with Henry's enemy, the king of France. 

The struggle continued for six years. Many of the 
bishops were inclined to compromise, but the Church as a 
whole supported Thomas, and the mass of the people fol- 
lowed the clergy. The two leaders stood firm. Henry was 
contending for the supremacy of the State, Thomas for the 
independence of the Church. Each was sincere in his pur- 
pose even though the king had an eye to his own authority 
as well as to the good of the realm, and the archbishop 
never forgot personal ambition in the interests of his order. 
The king was a century in advance of his time ; the priest 
did not realize that certain privileges of the Church were 
no longer necessary to her usefulness. 

Attempts at compromise were rendered vain by the king's 
unreasoning violence and by the stubbornness with which 
Thomas refused to abate his pretensions. At last, in 1 1 70, 
a half-reconciliation was brought about, and the two men in 
utter weariness agreed to forget the past. No sooner had 
the archbishop returned to England, however, than he re- 
newed the attack on the king by excommunicating those 
bishops who had taken part in the recent coronation of the 



Irish Affairs 



101 



king's eldest son. Henry, who was in Normandy at the time, 
was beside himself with rage at the news, and uttered the hasty 
wish that he were freed from his stubborn foe. A few days 
later the archbishop 
was struck down in 
his own cathedral of 
Canterbury by four 
knights incited to the 
bloody deed by the 
king's wrathful words 
(1170). Thomas won 
the crown of martyr- 
dom * to which he had 
so long aspired, and 
Henry was called to 
face the indignant hor- 
ror of all Christendom. 
In vain he disowned 
the act and promised 
to punish the murder- 
ers. Threatened with 
excommunication, he 
withdrew to Ireland, 
closing the ports of his 
realms to all messen- 
gers from the pope. 

Irish Affairs. — 
While England was 
steadily gaining ground 
in political unity and 
in civilization, the sis- 
ter island was retro- 
grading. The country 
had suffered severely 




Green, 

pp. 444-147 



Part of the Choir of Canterbury 
Cathedral, in building 1175-1184 

Scott, Medieeval Architecture 



1 In 1173 the archbishop received canonization. The fate of his mur- 
derers illustrates the need of Henry's proposed reforms. After the murder 
they made their escape, but finding themselves shunned by every one, gave 



The Fusion of Race 



Green, Henry 
the Second, 
pp. 158-161. 
Bright, I, 
101-103. 



Strongbow. 



from the Danes. There was no Irish Alfred to unite the 
whole people against the invader, and though the Irish fought 
bravely, it was without avail. During the long and desperate 
struggle religion and learning almost disappeared. The North- 
men settled along the east coast and succeeded in effecting 
the first of the half-conquests which have been the bane of this 
unhappy land. For three centuries following, Celtic Ireland 
remained outside the influence of European civilization. Al- 
though Christian, it had no ecclesiastical connection with 
the rest of the Christian world (p. 35), and its social and 
political organization was still the tribal form, outgrown 
elsewhere in western Europe. The only real authority was 
exercised by the kings of the four great divisions, Ulster, 
Minister, Leinster, and Connaught, but they were simply the 
leading chieftains of their tribal groups. The land was torn 
with their rivalries, and as yet no man had appeared strong 
enough to unite the island under one rule. 

Henry had long had in mind- the conquest of Ireland. 
Opportunity for interference was afforded by internal strife. 
In 1 1 66 Diarmit, king of Leinster, driven into exile by a 
union of the many foes raised through his own wrongdoing, 
betook himself to the English king and besought him to 
take up his cause. Henry, hampered by his quarrel with 
Thomas, was in no position to do this, but he gave Diarmit 
authority to obtain aid wherever he could do so in the 
Anglo-Angevin domains. The Irish king had little diffi- 
culty in winning the support of Richard de Clare, known as 
Strongbow, a needy adventurer of Norman blood. He also 
secured the aid of a band of Norman-Welsh knights, the 
Fitzgeralds and Fitz-Stephens. During the next four years 
the king of Leinster and his allies succeeded in conquering 
a large part of Ireland. In 1171 Diarmit died, and Strong- 
bow, who had married Eva, Diarmit's daughter, at once 
assumed control, with the title of Earl of Leinster. 

themselves up to the king. The murderer of a priest was amenable only 
to the ecclesiastical courts, so Henry sent the men to the pope, but the 
pope under the law could do nothing but condemn them to perpetual exile 
in the Holy Land. 



The Revolt of the Barons 1 03 

Ireland under English Rule. — Henry had watched the Green, Henry 
course of events in Ireland with anxiety, for he feared the the Second < 
establishment of a rival kingdom. In 11 71, desire to take 
matters into his own hands combined with the hope of Source-Book, 
appeasing the Pope by bringing the Irish into formal submis- PP- 62_6 S- 
sion to Rome, led him to cross St. George's Channel. The 
work of conquest was practically complete when Henry 
arrived, and having forced all parties to recognize his author- 
ity, he set about laying the foundations of a strong rule. 
The reorganization of the government was scarcely begun, 
however, when Henry was called back to Normandy. With 
him vanished all hope of political order in Ireland. The 
Normans quarrelled among themselves, and the Irish chief- 
tains rose in rebellion. Too busy to attend to Irish affairs, 
Henry (1185) sent over his son, John, to whom he had 
given Ireland as a portion. But the young prince returned 
home in a few months, leaving matters worse than he found 
them. 

For the next three hundred years, Ireland was left very 
much to itself. English rule, as a real force, was confined 
to the Pale. 1 Outside this district, English settlers inter- 
mixed with the natives and soon became more Irish than 
the Irish themselves. All that the conquest had done was 
to destroy the efficiency of the old tribal order, putting 
nothing in its place. The presence of the English, power- 
less to effect good, had the result of preventing the union of 
the Irish tribes under a native chieftain. 

The Revolt of the Barons. — When Henry hurriedly left Green, Henri 
Ireland with his work there hardly begun, it was to meet the Second > 

PP- I 74 _lS 5 

dangers that threatened his rule elsewhere. Henry, the son 
and heir whom he had caused to be crowned king that the 
succession might be secured, had formed a widespread con- 
spiracy to set his father aside. The danger was great, because 
there were discontented on both sides of the Channel who 
were ready to look to the young king as a leader. 

From the beginning of his reign, Henry had borne with 

1 The strip of coast from Dublin to Wexford. 



104 The Fusion of Races 

Green.ffenry heavy hand upon the great barons. He destroyed theii 
the Second, cast i es sent his justices into their courts, and forbade private 

pp. 74, 75- J . 

coinage. He diminished their importance in the great coun- 

Seep. 81. ., , & , l , , b 

cil by compelling the attendance of the lesser tenants-in- 
Green,Be//>y chief, and in 1170 he dealt their political power a severe 
the Second, blow by withdrawing the office of sheriff from the great 
nobles, and giving it to men of lower rank, trained in his 
courts and more dependent upon his will. Moreover, the 
device first introduced in 1159, and become by this time, 
Scutage. the established practice, of taking scutage or shield money 

in lieu of service in the field, although, apparently, in the 
interest of the baronage, told against their military superi- 
ority. It deprived their armed retainers of the chance of 
acquiring skill in war, while it enabled the king to hire for- 
eign mercenaries whom he could more freely and safely use. 
Bright, I, In the early summer of 1 1 73, Normandy rose in rebel- 

103-105. \\qxv, and in a short time the revolt became general. The 

young king was joined by his brothers Richard and Geoffrey. 
Philip of France and William the Lion, king of Scots, es- 
poused his cause, and the great barons on both sides of the 
Channel rose in his support. The value of Henry's work of 
reform was now revealed. To his aid rallied all who appre- 
ciated the good government that he had given England, the 
Church with which he had made his peace, the newer nobil- 
ity that knew not the Norman traditions, the townspeople, 
the freeholders of the country. Moreover, through the 
strong administrative machinery which Henry had created, 
the power of the crown could make itself felt as never before 
throughout the land. For a time the situation was critical, 
but by the summer of 1 1 74 all resistance had broken down, 
and the king of Scots was a prisoner. So complete, indeed, 
was Henry's victory that he could afford to be merciful to 
Last feudal the rebels. The insurrection of n 73 marks the close of an 
rising. era j n English history, for it Was the last feudal rising, the 

last contest between the baronage and a united king and 
people. 

The Closing Years of the Reign. — Henry's power was now 



106 The Fusion of Races 

at its height. He used his right of appointing bishops to 
strengthen his hold upon the Church, and by a compromise 
with the papal legate he secured many of the points at issue 
in his quarrel with Thomas. With the aid of his able min- 
isters he carried on the work of administrative reform. The 
Bright, I, rising of 1173 had shown the trustworthiness of the fyrd or 
106-109. militia and what service it might render in the king's de- 

fence. In 1 181 Henry issued the Assize of Arms, providing 
for the reorganization of the national force. Every freeman 
was bound to provide himself with arms according to his 
degree, and to attend the regular musters before the royal 
justices. 

The close of Henry's reign was disturbed by the rebellion 
of his sons, whom he loved and trusted in spite of repeated 
Green, Henry treachery. The young king had died in 1183, but Richard, 
the Second, t i ie i ie j r apparent, fearing the favor with which Henry re- 
pp. » 224. g arc j e( j his youngest son John, allied himself with Philip 
Bright, I, Augustus of France and rose against his father. Defeated 
109-112. on a jj s i c ] es an( j jii f a mor tal disease, Henry submitted to 

the hard terms forced upon him by the rebels and turned 
to Chinon to die. They brought him from Philip a list of 
those who had conspired against him, and first on the list 
stood the name of his favorite son, John. Turning his face 
to the wall, the old king cried, " Let things go now as they 
will, — I care no more for myself or for the world." He 
died murmuring, " Shame, shame on a conquered king." 

Work of Henry II. — Though of an alien race, speak- 
ing a foreign tongue and spending but thirteen of the 
thirty-five years of his reign in England, Henry of Anjou 
has left an indelible mark on English history. It is true 
that the Anglo-Angevin empire which he built up with so 
much care hardly outlived the century, but his policy deter- 
mined England's foreign relations for centuries to come. It 
Bright, I, was chiefly, however, through his work at home that he im- 
"3. "4- pressed his personality on the national life. He destroyed 

feudalism as a system of government, he brought the Church 
under the control of the State, and established a strong cen- 



Work of Henry II 



107 



tralized administrative system. In 
accomplishing this he raised the 
power of the crown to a dangerous 
height, but at the same time, in na- 
tionalizing the Church, in destroying 
the feudal traditions of the baron- 
age, and in reviving the activity of 
the local courts, he nourished forces 
which in the next century were to 
bring that power within bounds. 

Reign of Richard I (1189-1199). 
— Richard, the second son of Henry 
II, succeeded his father on the throne 
without dispute. There is little like- 
ness between Richard, the brilliant 
knight-errant, and Henry, the hard- 
working man of business, yet in the 
elements of constitutional progress 
and national growth one reign is 
but the continuation of the other. 
Henry's continental policy was fol- 
lowed by his son, and at home the 
administrative system was developed 
by men trained in Henry's methods 
along lines already laid down. 

Richard was even more truly than 
his father a foreign king. But twice 
during his reign of ten years did he 
spend a few months in England. 

Soon after taking possession of his English kingdom he 
started on a crusade to the Holy Land, leaving the govern- 
ment in the hands of his justiciar, William Longchamp, 




A Crusader. — The Effigy 
of Sir Richard de What- 
ton in Whatton Church, 
Nottinghamshire 

From an old print in The Gen- 
tleman's Magazine 



Blight, I, 
"5-125- 

Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets 
pp. 110-116. 



io8 



The Fusion of Race. 



Stubbs, 

Early 

Plantagenets, 

pp. Il6, 122- 
I2 4 . 



Green, 

pp. 139-141. 



Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp. 125-127. 



Bishop of Ely. By 1192 the failure of the third crusade 
was evident, and the king was forced to abandon his enter- 
prise. Alarmed by reports of trouble at home, Richard was 
hastening westward when he fell into the hands of his enemy, 
the emperor of Germany, and for two years was held a 
prisoner. Released at last on the promise of paying a heavy 
ransom, he made his way to England only to find his brother 
John allied with Philip of France and in open rebellion. But 
John was too unpopular to be dangerous, and order was soon 
restored. There were, however, greater foes to be faced 
elsewhere, and the rest of Richard's reign was spent abroad 
in the effort to suppress the revolt of the barons of Aquitaine 
and to secure Normandy against the attacks of the French 
king. 1 In n 99 his troubled career came to a close ; he was 
struck down by an arrow from a castle that he was be- 
sieging in Limousin and lived only long enough to declare 
John his heir. 

Richard's Influence in England. — Richard's reign was 
marked by a further development of the administrative 
system, although the king's part in it was mainly indirect. 
Known in history and romance as the Lion-Hearted, a chiv- 
alrous soldier and valiant crusader, to his English subjects he 
must have seemed a needy and rather greedy ruler, who 
never thought of England except when in want of money. 
Probably he conferred on the country the greatest benefit in 
his power by absenting himself on foreign wars. Although 
something more than a mere soldier, Richard showed little 
appreciation of his father's methods of government, and had 
he remained in England he might only have disturbed the 
development of the political order so carefully elaborated in 
the previous reign. 

In the absence of the king, the control of affairs fell to 
such men as Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, and 
the Justiciar, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, men trained by Henry II. 
They were loyal and able servants of the crown, but their 

1 To defend the Norman frontier, Richard built the Chateau Gaillard, a 
masterpiece of the engineering skill of the day. 



National Development 109 

task was a difficult one, for the nation was becoming restive 
under the increasingly heavy burden of taxation, and John, 
as faithless to his brother as he had been to his father, was 
at hand to take advantage of any discontent. To meet the Political 
constant demands of the king for money, the ministers were progress 
obliged to resort to every expedient. Personal property, 
levied upon for the first time in the reign of Henry II, 
was now regularly taxed, and in 1194, when the nation 
was called upon to pay the king's ransom, old forms of 
requisition were revived and new ones were invented ; no 
class of persons, no kind of wealth, was allowed to escape. 
It was in part because of the difficulty of valuing personal 
property, and partly from a wish to conciliate the people, 
that the assessment of taxes was placed in the hands of local 
juries. It was during Richard's reign also that it became 
customary to intrust the choice of the juries of recognition 
and presentment to the freeholders of the shire. Thus the 
principles of election and representation were slowly making 
their way into the administrative system. 

Social Progress under the Early Angevins 

National Development. — During the half century that 
had elapsed since the treaty of Wallingford a new nation had 
sprung into existence. Under the rule of the Angevin the 
differences between Norman and Englishman had well-nigh 
disappeared. The Great Charter of the next reign takes no 
note of race distinctions. Men of English birth if not of 
English blood filled high places in Church and State. 
The court still used French, but the Norman barons had 
begun to learn the vernacular, and by the beginning of 
the thirteenth century English was the generally spoken 
tongue. 1 

Literary Revival. — The literary activity which marked 
Henry I's reign had almost died out during the anarchy 

1 Latin continued to be the language of literature. 



no 



The Fusion of Races 



Green, 

pp. 117-121. 
Green, Henry 
the Second, 
Ch. X. 

Traill, I, 
344-356. 



Learning 
at the 
royal court. 



Traill, I, 
339-343- 



that followed. William of Malmesbury had no succes- 
sor, and in 1154 the Saxon Chro?iicle came to an end. 
But with the closing years of the century the new impulses 
that were stirring the life of the people found vigorous ex- 
pression in a great literary outburst. A wide gulf separated 
the new literature from the old. In its secular tone, its 
fulness and freedom of treatment, its wide range of subjects, 
wide as the scope of the Angevin interests, it spoke of the 
court rather than of the cloister. Under Henry II the 
royal court had in fact become a centre of learning, and 
although the greatest of the early Angevin historians, William 
of Newburgh, lived and wrote in a remote Yorkshire mon- 
astery, most of the writers of the time were statesmen and 
diplomatists rather than monks. One was the king's treas- 
urer, another an itinerant judge, another a royal chaplain. 1 
They were a part of the working world, and in their writings 
were reflected all aspects of national thought and activity. 
Disregard of old forms, revolt against narrow tradition, a 
living interest in actual events, eager seeking after new and 
higher things, characterized the literature of the twelfth cen- 
tury. The writings of Richard Fitz-Nigel and Roger of How- 
den, men prominent in the administration, are a record at 
first hand of the reigns of Henry and Richard. Gerald the 
Welshman, cousin to the Fitz-Geralds who took part in the 
conquest of Ireland, accompanied John on his journey 
thither, and came back to write two books on that country 
in the effective off-hand style of a newspaper correspondent 
of to-day. Every stage in the career of Thomas of London 
was carefully recorded by his friends and followers. In the 
Confessions of Bishop Goliath Walter Map held up the 
vices of the Church to the scorn of the age, while in Sir 
Galahad, he set before the world a new ideal of manhood. 

The Universities. — The same vigorous inquisitive spirit 
was revealed in the great communities of scholars that gath- 
ered at Oxford and Cambridge. The first use of the word 
university belongs to the thirteenth century, but even in 

1 Richard Fitz-Nigel, Walter Map, Gerald the Welshman. 



The Towns 



Richard's time Oxford was a school of European fame with 
regular faculties, thronged with eager scholars of all ages 
and from all corners of the kingdom and even from over- 
seas. Here the older men studied law and theology, while 
the younger were taught grammar and rhetoric and, later, 
mathematics and physical sciences. In the intercourse be- 
tween men of all classes and many nations, provincial preju- 
dices gave way before a wider interest which included the 
whole world in its view. At Oxford a spirit of free inquiry 
which tended to break away from narrow ecclesiastical tra- 
dition early manifested itself. 

The Towns. — Even more than the universities did the Green,/,>»/j> 

towns further the growth of a spirit of freedom and self- the Second - 
j j to. j i pp- "^-in- 

dependence. The develop- 
ment of the wool trade and 
the expansion of foreign com- 
merce under the Angevins had 
increased the wealth and im- 
portance of the towns, and 
they moved steadily toward 
municipal freedom. London 
was always in the lead, and 
the lesser towns made the 
rights which it had secured the 
goal of their efforts. By the 
close of the century the strug- 
gle for self-government was 
practically complete. Most of 
the towns had gained charters 

which gave them their own independent courts of justice Soune-B.oak 
and the right of controlling local trade. They paid their pp- 6 5~7 i - 
taxes into the royal treasury in a lump sum, called the ferm, 
assessing and collecting the dues themselves. The larger 
towns, moreover, were beginning to acquire the right of 
choosing their own chief officer, the mayor or reeve, until 
now nominated by the crown. The commercial privileges 
granted were usually very extensive. By the ordinary form 




Ship of Richard I 

From the Ms. of Matthew Paris 



112 



The Fusion of Races 



of charter, trade was to be " quit and free from all tolls, dues, 
and customs at fairs or otherwise, in all harbors throughout 
all my dominions, both by the hither side and the further 
side of the sea, by land and by strand." 

In their efforts to gain the privilege of self-government, 
the towns were aided by the necessities of the king and 
nobles, who were often in sore straits to meet the expense of 
their crusading enterprises and were willing to yield some 
liberty or exemption in return for ready money. Each right 
gained was a matter of bargain. Rye and Winchelsey 
secured their charters from Richard by supplying him with 
two ships for one of his expeditions, and, a little later, 

Portsmouth obtained 
the same much-cov- 
eted possession by 
paying part of the 
royal ransom. 

The Merchant Gild. 
— A most important 
factor in the emanci- 
pation of the towns 
was the influence of 
the merchant gilds. 
With the develop- 
ment of commerce 
and industry, trade 
had become the rul- 
ing interest in the 
towns and the mer- 
chant classes the most 
powerful element in 
the life of the com- 
munity. Their associations were originally formed merely 
to control the trade of the place or to secure purely commer- 
cial privileges, such as the right of holding a fair or exemp- 
tion from paying toll, but, including as they did the influ- 
ential men of the community, and strong through effective 




Exterior of the Gild House of the 
York Merchants Company 

Lambert, Tivo Thousand Years of Gild Life 



Trade 1 1 3 

organization, they naturally took the lead in wringing from 
the crown judicial immunity or political power. Almost 
every town and many villages possessed a gild, and it was 
here that the stirring, vigorous life of the community centred. 
Each gild had its hall where meetings were held to make 
rules by which dishonest trade might be prevented and 
non-gildsmen kept from sharing in the traffic of the place. 

The power of the merchants tended to become tyrannical, 
and already artisans in some of the crafts endeavored to 
combine against their domination. In the reign of Richard, Rising of 
the artisans of London led by one of the aldermen, William Longbeard, 
Longbeard, rose in a vain protest against alleged injustice 
of the great traders in the assessment of taxes. 

Trade. — As yet there was little freedom of commercial 
intercourse ; protection and monopoly were the watchwords 
of the merchant world throughout the Middle Ages, and 
trade was shackled by many fetters. The business code 
forbade methods now looked upon as entirely legitimate : for 
example, " forestalling," or buying up at a distance in order 
to sell at a higher price in the home market, and "engross- 
ing," or buying at a season of plenty to hold over until a 
time when the goods were dear. 

Internal trade depended on the great fairs, and the right Fairs, 
of holding them was dearly prized by the towns. The fair 
of Stourbridge, a few miles from Cambridge, was known 
throughout Europe. It was held in September, and for days 
before it opened the roads were blocked by wagons laden 
with wares from all parts of the world. Silks from Genoa, 
the linens of Flanders, French and Spanish wines, were dis- 
played side by side with the home traders' stores of wool 
and salt fish. The narrow streets were thronged with men 
of all classes, merchant and noble, soldier and priest. For 
three weeks the fair went on, and daily the mayor sat at his 
court "of the dusty feet" to give justice between disputing 
wayfarers, and on Sunday some monk from the neighboring 
priory said mass in the chapel that stood near the spot 
where the fair was held. 



H4 



The Fusion of Races 



Traill, I, 
3 6 7-37i- 



With increased prosperity came greater refinement and 
luxury. The houses of the wealthy merchants were often 
of some architectural pretensions, and were far more com- 
fortable than the fortress-like dwellings of the baronage. 
Within the cities where the gilds looked after their own 
people, a little attention was paid to sanitary conditions of 
living, but outside the walls, where those not admitted to the 
privileges of the towns were herded together in unrelieved 
dirt and squalor, fever and plague spread unchecked. 




Seal of Henry I 



Important Events 

Reign of Henry II, 1154-1189. 

Constitutions of Clarendon, 1164. 

Assize of Clarendon, 1166. 

Death of Archbishop Thomas, 11 70. 

Invasion of Ireland, 1169-1172. 

Rising of the Barons, 11 73. 
Reign of Richard I, 1189-1199. 

The king returns from the crusade, 1194 



Chief Contemporaries 1 15 



S- -a « "H ° 



2 S 






# 



^ 2 



?1 18- 

*! I" 

* c .a g I* 

.5 £ a. rt ~ 



U ° «a la 



CHAPTER V 

STRUGGLE FOR THE CHARTER 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 

Stubbs, Adams and Stephens, as before. 

Hill, Liberty Documents. 

Hutton, English History from Contemporary Writers; Misrule of 

Henry III, Simon Je Mont fort and his Cause. 
Jacobs, The Jews of Angevin England. 

Special Authorities 

Taswell-Langmead, Constitutional History. 

Norgate, fohn Lackland. 

Richardson, 77^ National Movement in the Reign of Henry LLL. 

Pauli, Life of Simon de Montfort. 

Jessopp, Coming of the Eriars. 

Jenks, Edward Plantagenet. 

Tout, Political History of England, Vol. III. 

Hume-Brown, ILi story of Scotland. 

Stubbs, Ramsay, Adams, Pollock, as before. 

Imaginative Literature 
Shakespeare, King John. 

John 1 (i 199-12 1 6). — The third king of the Angevin line 
stands out as the most vicious and worthless of all English 

1 John, 1199-1216 

Henry III, m. Eleanor Joan, m. Alexander II Eleanor, m. Simon Richard, Icing of 
1216-1272 I of Provence of Scotland de Montfort the Romans, 
I d. 1271 

Edward I, m. Eleanor of Castile Edmund Crouchback, Margaret, m. Alexander III 

1272-1307 Earl of Lancaster, d. 1295 of Scotland 

ll6 



The Loss of Normandy ny 

monarchs. Faithless to every trust, stained with every Green, 
crime, from first to last John's life offers not one redeeming pp - I22 - I2 3- 
trait, not one saving act. And yet he had much of the 
ability of his house, together with an extraordinary power 
of winning the love of men. But he used his power over 
others only to their undoing, and the achievements of his 
undoubted force and talent were rendered vain by the base- 
ness of his nature. 

The reign of John falls naturally into three periods, each 
ending in crushing defeat and humiliation ; in the first, in- 
terest centred in the wars with Philip of France, during 
the second, the king was carrying on a fierce contest with 
Rome, and the last was occupied with the events that turned 
upon the granting of the Great Charter. 

The Loss of Normandy. — John's claim to succeed his Stubbs, 
brother met with no opposition in England, but on the E * rly 

rl . . Plantageticts 

Continent he was confronted with a dangerous rival in his pp . 129-135. 
nephew, Arthur of Brittany, the son of his dead brother 
Geoffrey. The young prince urged the claims of strict Bright, 1, 
hereditary succession, and he had a strong supporter in I2 I29 * 
the French king. Philip and Arthur soon quarrelled, how- Green, 
ever, while in his mother, Queen Eleanor, John had a wise PP- Iz 5' I: ^ 
and experienced counsellor, and within a few months he 
was master of all his continental possessions. But he mis- 
used his good fortune, and quarrelled with the barons of 
Poitou, thereby giving the French king a chance to inter- 
fere as overlord. On John's refusal to appear before Philip 
to answer the charge against him, he was declared to have 
forfeited his lands. John's position was already critical 
when his difficulties were increased by the mysterious death Death of 
of the young Prince Arthur (1203), who had fallen into his Arthur, 1203 
uncle's hands. The king was accused, and probably with 
justice, of having murdered his nephew. Philip, quick 
to take advantage of the storm of indignation that followed, 
pressed boldly forward into Normandy. The barons, in- 
sulted and wronged by John, refused to rise in his behalf, 
and town after town opened its doors to the French king. 



Struggle for the Charter 



Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp. 136, 137. 



Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp. I37-I43- 

Bright, I, 
130, 131- 



Stephen 
Langton. 



By the end of the summer of 1204 John's rule was limited 
to the lands south of the Charente ; nothing but the Channel 
Islands remained to him of the hereditary possessions of 
William the Conqueror and Geoffrey of Anjou. 

Consequences of the Loss of the French Provinces. — That 
the work of Henry II on the Continent was so soon undone 
was due in part to the great ability of the French king, and 
still more to John's worthlessness ; but the ease with which 
Maine, Normandy, and Anjou became a part of France 
showed how impossible was the project of an Anglo- 
Angevin empire. To England the loss of the French 
provinces was an event of far-reaching importance. The 
barons were compelled to choose between Normandy and 
England, and those who threw in their lot with the island 
realm became now for the first time wholly English in 
sympathy and interest. For the first time, too, since the 
Conquest, king and people were brought face to face ; John 
was dependent upon England, as his predecessors had not 
been ; the people learned to know their ruler as never 
before. 

John's Quarrel with the Church. — -The death (1204) of 
Queen Eleanor, John's mainstay on the Continent, had been 
followed by defeat in Normandy; and when, in 1205, the 
king lost Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, his 
most useful and devoted servant, he at once plunged into 
a quarrel with Rome which ended in his deep humiliation. 
The difficulty arose out of the question of choosing Walter's 
successor, both king and chapter claiming the privilege. 
John was probably in the right, — the power of the crown 
to nominate to the See of Canterbury had been conceded 
even by Anselm, — but he prejudiced his cause by unreason- 
ing violence. The matter was laid before the Roman Curia. 
Pope Innocent decided the question by rejecting the candi- 
dates of both parties and causing his own man to be chosen. 
In this high-handed action he probably thought chiefly of 
advancing the interests of Rome ; but when he nominated 
Stephen Langton, an Englishman already known for his 



The Interdict and Deposition 119 

great learning and noble character, he gave to England an 
able and disinterested leader in the coming struggle for 
freedom. 

The Interdict and Deposition. — John refused to yield Green, 
to the Pope's decision. He would not permit the new pp- I23 ~ I2 5- 
archbishop to enter England. Threat he met by counter- 
threat ; if Innocent laid the kingdom under interdict, he 
would banish the clergy and seize their goods. But Inno- 
cent III, the greatest and most imperious of all the popes, 
was not one to draw back, and in 1208 the interdict was pro- 
claimed. The churches were closed, only the chapels of 
a few privileged orders remaining open ; the dead lay un- 
buried, or were placed in unconsecrated ground ; no sacra- 
ments were administered except those of baptism and 
extreme unction. The nation felt itself under a curse. Still 
John did not yield, but made good his threats by subjecting 
the clergy to great outrage. In 1209 the Pope struck at 
the king in person by excommunicating him, but John 
met excommunication with defiance. He seized the prop- 
erty of the bishops and used it to carry on a vigorous war 
upon the Welsh and Irish and Scots. There was but one 
weapon left the Pope, and the time to use it was come. In 
1212 Innocent issued a bull deposing the king, absolving 
his subjects from their allegiance, and calling upon the 
French king to execute the decree. Even yet John might 
have proved a match for Rome had he not suddenly found 
himself confronted by rebellion among his own barons. 

Throughout his reign John had insulted and oppressed Stubbs, 
the baronage. He had seized their castles and held their ^ w/| 
children as hostages. Illegal and burdensome exactions pp . 143-145. 
had been followed by repeated demands for service and 
scutage. There was scarcely one among them but had 
some personal ground for complaint. Their long endur- 
ance of John's tyranny bears witness to the strength which 
Henry's reforms had given the crown. In secret, however, 
the barons were plotting against the king ; and it was the 
discovery at this juncture of their conspiracies with Philip 



Struggle for the Charter 



Bright, I, 
133. 134- 



Stubbs, 

Early 

PlantageiiL'ts, 

pp. 143, 145- 

149. 

Green, pp. 

125-127. 



Source-Book, 
pp. 72-78. 



Meeting at 
St. Paul's, 
1313. 



Bright, I, 
* 35-139- 



that forced John to yield. His decision was quickly made. 
His present position was hopeless, hut with the pope as an 
ally, he could defy the rest of his foes. On the 1 5 th of 
May, 1 21 3, he knelt before the papal legate, Pandulf, and, 
surrendering his realm to the pope, received it back to 
hold as a vassal of the See of Rome. 

The King and the Barons. — John and the pope were 
now reconciled, but this did not improve the king's relations 
with his subjects. The Church still stood aloof; and for the 
first time since the Conquest, the crown could expect no 
support from the clergy in a contest with the baronage. 

Regardless of the dissatisfaction already existing, John 
added to the accumulated grievances of his vassals by de- 
manding that they should follow him on an expedition that 
he was planning for the recovery of the lost French prov- 
inces. At last the smouldering resentment burst into open 
revolt, and on all sides the king met determined opposition. 
They would serve him within the four seas, the barons said, 
but cross the Channel they would not. 

Hitherto the baronage had lacked a leader, but the pope 
unwittingly gave them one in Stephen Langton, who, ever 
since his arrival in England, had been untiring in his efforts 
to restrain the king from despotic measures. Already John 
had been brought to the point of promising through his 
justiciar, Geoffrey Fitz- Peter, that he would henceforth abide 
by the old-time laws. On the outbreak of insurrection, Lang- 
ton came forward with practical statesmanship to give the 
nation a definite basis of action. At a meeting of the 
barons at St. Paul's in August (1213), he displayed the 
half-forgotten charter of Henry I, and proposed that it be 
presented to the king as expressing the terms on which 
he should govern. 

But John met all demands with evasion. He was about 
to start on the expedition to France, from which he hoped 
much. Although he could obtain no aid from the barons, 
on whom he now lost his last hold by the death of Geoffrey 
Fitz-Peter, he had succeeded in gathering together a large 



The Great Charter 121 

force of mercenaries. During the next few months the fate 
of England trembled in the balance. Had John returned 
from France victorious, the rebellious barons would have had 
no chance ; the overwhelming victory of the French at 
Bouvines in July, 12 14, gave the signal for the triumph 
of English liberties. 

Rising of the Barons. — Matters at once came to a crisis 
in England. The northern barons took the lead, but they 
were soon joined by many others. At Christmas time they 
appeared in arms before the king, and demanded that the 
old liberties should be restored. John asked time for con- 
sideration, and at once attempted to divide his foes. He 
appealed to Rome, he promised to respect the privileges 
of the clergy, he put himself under the especial protection 
of the Church by taking the cross as a crusader, he de- 
manded the oath of allegiance from every free man, and he 
summoned mercenaries from Poitou. 

The barons immediately reassembled. In May London 
opened its gates to them, ;ind a little later they were joined 
by the royal ministers. The king, deserted by all save his 
kinsmen and favorites and the foreign soldiers, was forced 
to yield. On the 15th of June, 1215, he met his outraged Grantofthe 
vassals at Runnymede, near Windsor on the Thames, and Charter > 
made full submission in setting his seal to the charter of 
liberties which they laid before him. 

The Great Charter. — The first step in the struggle for pop- Green _ 
ular government was won. In the words of Bishop Stubbs, pp. 128-131. 
"The maintenance of the Charter becomes henceforth the barter— 
watchword of English freedom." In form the Great Char- Latin: 
ter was a royal grant ; in reality it was a formal state- Stubbs, 
ment of liberties wrung from the king by the united action charters; 
of the people of England. It contained little that was new, English : 



Old South 
Leaflets, 



but it expressed with exactness what before was undefined 
Thoroughly English in spirit, there was no statement of ^5.' 
abstract rights ; everything was thrown into concrete, practi- H 
cal form. No class, no interest, was overlooked. Some of 
the provisions limited the power of the king over his vassals ; 



Adams and 
Stephens. 



122 



Struggle for the C J tarter 



Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp. 150-153. 



others protected the villain against his lord. To the Church 
were secured its ancient liberties ; to the towns, their newly 
bought privileges. The care with which the interests of the 
merchants were protected shows the increasing importance 
of trade. 

Some of the sixty-three articles of the charter related to 
merely temporary matters ; others were valuable for all time. 
The principles upon which the whole English judicial system 
is based were expressed in the words " No freeman shall be 
taken or imprisoned, or disseised, 1 or outlawed, or banished 
. . . unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the 
law of the land." " We will sell to no man, we will not deny 
to any man, either justice or right." Among the most im- 
portant articles were the two which limited the power of the 
king in matters of taxation. " No scutage or aid shall be 
imposed in our kingdom, unless by the general council of 
our kingdom j " and " For the holding of the general coun- 
cil of the kingdom ... we shall cause to be summoned the 
archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons of the 
realm singly, by our letters. And furthermore we shall cause 
to be summoned generally by our sheriffs and bailiffs, all 
others who hold of us in chief." 

Renewal of the Struggle. — In words, the recognition of 
the national liberties was ample, but how insure the fulfil- 
ment of the promise? how control a king whom no oath 
could bind? In the charter itself it was arranged that a 
council of twenty-five barons should be chosen to enforce 
its provisions. Authority was given them to make war upon 
the king if he should fail to do justice. "They have given 
me five-and-twenty overkings," protested John, and he at 
once turned to seek a way of evasion. 

Civil war followed. Innocent, with little comprehension 
of the question at issue, freed the king from his oath and 
recalled Langton to Rome. John summoned to his aid 
Poitevin and Flemish mercenaries and for a time swept all 
before him. The barons in despair renewed the intrigues 

1 Dispossessed of land. 



Minority of Henry III 123 

with the French king, and in 12 16, Louis, the French prince, 
to whom they had offered the crown, entered England at 
the head of an army. Quickly the tide turned, since the 
hired soldiers refused to fight against the son of their king. 
John's cause was not lost, however, when he suddenly died. 

Minority of Henry III (1216-1227). — John's death trans- Stubbs, 
formed the situation. A large portion of the country was in J} ry 
the hands of the insurgents and their allies, and the kingdom pp . 155-158, 
was in a fair way to come under the rule of France. But it 160-164. 
was fear and hatred of John that had led the barons to call 
in Louis. John dead, national feeling reasserted itself, and the 
coalition began to break up. Nevertheless, England might 
even yet have passed under foreign rule but for the patriotic 
course of the greatest of the barons, William Marshall, Earl William 
of Pembroke. Aided by Gualo, the papal legate, he caused Marsha11 - 
Henry, the young son of John, to be crowned king, reissued 
the Charter, thus detaching many of the barons from the 
French alliance, and, by his vigorous efforts, succeeded in 
obliging Louis to withdraw. 

The following years were occupied in reestablishing the Bright, I, 
government. In the minority of the young king, Pern- r 4 I-I 5 a 
broke acted as regent until his death in 12 19. He was 
succeeded by the justiciar, Hubert de Burgh, who continued Hubert 
his work, carrying on the administration according to the de Bur S h 
principles of the Charter. De Burgh's efforts to give Eng- 
land sound government were complicated by the presence 
of foreigners, the former supporters of John, and by the re- 
appearance of the spirit of feudal lawlessness among the 
barons. The attempts of the Pope to interfere in the con- 
duct of affairs was a further embarrassment. But the justi- 
ciar succeeded in expelling the foreigners, and, by reoccupying 
the royal castles, put a check on the barons, while Langton 
crowned his services to the cause of constitutional freedom 
by obtaining the promise that during his lifetime no Roman 
legate should be sent to England. 

The years of Henry's minority were a period of quiet 
national growth, of awakening political consciousness, of 



2 4 



Straggle for the Charter 



Green, 

pp. 147-152. 



spiritual and moral regeneration. The loss of the French 
provinces had removed the last obstacle in the way of 
national unity, so far as the barons were concerned. At the 
same time a great movement within the Church was prepar- 
ing the people for political action. 

The Friar Movement. — In the thirteenth century the 
temporal power of Rome was at its height, but secular 
advance had been attained at the expense of spiritual influ- 
ence. The monastic revival of the preceding century had 
spent itself, and old and new orders alike were corrupt and 




LONGTHORPE MANOR HOUSE. BUILT ABOUT 1235 
Hudson Turner, Domestic Architecture 



Dominicans 
and 

Franciscans. 



self-seeking. Heresy was growing rife, and the spiritual 
welfare of the people was neglected. 

It was the mission of two great religious orders that 
sprang suddenly into existence early in the thirteenth cen- 
tury, to recall the Church to its duty. Unlike the earlier 
monks, the friars sought not their own salvation apart from 
the world, but strove to save the souls and bodies of others. 
The Order of Preachers, as the followers of Dominic the 
Castilian were called, directed their eloquence against popu- 
lar heresies, while Francis d'Assisi and his gray-frocked 
brethren labored to relieve the misery and degradation of 
the common people. Bound by vows of poverty that were 



The Friars in England 



125 



real, the barefooted friars wandered through all lands. They 
turned to the towns, neglected by the older orders, nursing 
the sick and befriending the outcast. They preached in 
the crowded market-place in words that all could under- 
stand, driving home each truth with apt anecdote or homely 
illustration drawn from the world of nature or from the daily 
experience of those to whom they spoke. 

The Friars in England. — The Dominicans or Black 
Friars reached England in 1220, and four years later they 




Wells Cathedral. West Front 

were followed by the Franciscans. There was little heresy 
to combat in England, but among the forlorn dwellers 
outside the walls of the rapidly growing towns there was 
urgent need of the practical labors of the Franciscans. 
They soon became the more popular of the two orders. 
The English clergy had shared in the general deteriora- 
tion of the Church. The great ecclesiastics were worldly 
minded, and the parish priests were ignorant and de- 
graded. The needs of the people were neglected by both 
alike. The coming of the friars worked a revolution in 
the life of the nation. The indifference of the laity and 
the hostility of the clergy were not proof against their ar- 



Bacon. 



126 Straggle for the Charter 

dor and devotion. They aroused the Church to a new sense 
of its duties, and urged the people to holier and healthier 
living. 
Traill, I, The influence of the friars on national thought was of 

429-440. great importance. With true instinct they had made their 

way at once to Oxford, where thousands of youth from 
all parts of the country were gathered. At first the Fran- 
ciscans set their faces against all learning, but they soon 
saw that training in theology and medicine was necessary 
for the success of their work, and in a short time they had 
established their schools at Oxford. Under the inspiration 
of their teachings the dark lecture rooms were thronged 
with eager learners. The friars gave to education a utili- 
tarian bent. The old zeal in learning for learning's sake 
died out before the interest they lent to the study of 
Roger theology and practical science. Roger Bacon, himself a 

Franciscan, bears witness in his writings 1 to the changed 
temper of his University of Oxford. First of English phi- 
losophers, and last and greatest representative of the wider 
culture of the preceding generation, he labored for many 
years to arouse men to an interest in the great world of 
knowledge outside the narrow scholastic bounds. But the 
appeal was lost upon his contemporaries ; in the end he was, 
as he himself wrote, "unheard, forgotten, buried." 

On the political temper of the time the influence of the 
friars was strong and invigorating. Preachers of the people, 
they wandered from place to place and helped to spread new 
ideas, to form public opinion. In thought and habit of 
life they were democratic, and their sympathies were with 
the poor. Through their dramatic open-air preaching they 
roused their hearers to new conceptions of the duties of 
kings and the rights of subjects. It was this propaganda 
that threw the influence of the towns and universities on 
the popular side in the coming struggle with the crown. 
The contest against royal misrule which filled the later 
years of Henry's reign is called the Barons' War, but it was 

1 The Opus Majus, an encyclopaedia of the knowledge of the day. 



Rule of Henry III 127 

the consciousness that behind them stood the nation that 
nerved the barons to rise against the king. 

Rule of Henry III. — In 1227 Henry declared himself Stubbs, 

of age, and thenceforward his character told upon the „,■ \ 

° r Plantagenels 

course of events. Deeply religious, moral, refined, he had pp. i 54i i 55i 

few of the vices of his father, but on the other hand he l6 5; 

had little of the force and political capacity that had marked p '^ e "' 6 

his house heretofore. Throughout his long reign he showed Source Book 

himself weak and vacillating, incapable both of fulfilling the pp . 78-84. 

wishes of his subjects and of carrying out a vigorous policy 

of his own. His rule was characterized by misgovernment 

at home and inefficiency abroad. To assert the power of stubbs, 

the crown he turned his ministers out of office, filling their Early 

1 Pla/itageiieti 

places with men dependent upon himself. Thus in 1232, pp I 6 5 _i6- 
Hubert de Burgh, last of the great justiciars, was dismissed, 
to be replaced by the Bishop of Winchester, Peter des 
Roches, a Poitevin. Later Henry tried to be his own chief 
minister and to carry on the government without treasurer, 
chancellor, or justiciar ; but he lacked the ability and energy 
for this, and the result was hopeless disorder. The nation Bright, 1, 
groaned under the rule of foreigners, favorites of the king, I 5 I - I S 8 - 
or kinsfolk of his mother and wife. In their hands were 
placed the royal castles and the high offices, to them were 
intrusted the defence and administration of the realm, on 
them was squandered one-sixth of the royal revenue. 
Extravagant and wasteful, the king was ever in need of 
money and ever demanding supplies. His debts soon 
amounted to more than fdur times his annual income. 
Every expedient to fill the treasury was used. Offices were 
sold, loans were wrung from the great nobles, clergy and 
laity alike were called upon for new and burdensome aids. 
The weight of taxation was increased by the king's foreign 
expeditions. Unable to see that England's true interest lay 
within the four seas, he was constantly engaging in the 
quarrels of continental kings, or scheming to regain the lost 
provinces. An attempt to recover Poitou (1242) ended in 
the loss of all lands in France except Aquitaine. 



128 Struggle for the Charter 

England and the Pope. — Not by the king alone was the 
unhappy realm plundered and pillaged. Since John's sub- 
mission, the pope had looked upon England as a vassal 
kingdom bound to contribute to the needs of the Holy See. 
Langton's death in 1228 was followed by an attempt of the 
pope to secure an increase of revenue. Large sums were 
exacted from the clergy, and many of the best livings of the 
Church were bestowed on Italians. Under Innocent IV 
the extortions multiplied, and a special agent, Master Mar- 
tin, was sent to England to wring whatever he could from 
the people. Under the leadership of Grosseteste, Bishop 
of Lincoln, clergy and laity made common cause in resisting 
these spoliations. They sent protests to the pope, and 
appealed to the king for protection, but in vain. The 
demands of Rome increased year by year. Grosseteste de- 
clared that the pope's nominees drew from the realm a 
revenue three times as great as the royal income. Henry 
gave the country no help, since both devoutness and per- 
sonal gratitude bound him to the pope. Self-interest led 
him to connive at the papal exactions in return for papal 
support in his dealings with his subjects, 
stubbs, Feeling of the People. — Year by year the discontent of 

Aar/ . v the nation increased, and finally it found expression. In 

pp. 172-175. ' i 2 37 the council declared in words that sum up the long 
list of grievances, " that it would be unworthy of them and 
injurious to allow a king who was so easily led astray, who 
had never reptifeed. or frightened even the least of the 
enemies of his kingdolrr^who had never extended the 
borders of his realm, but had' "contracted it and brought 
it under the rule of foreigners, to so often extort so much 
money from them, his natural subjects, as though they were 
slaves of lowest degree." Over and over again the barons 
attempted to bind the king through renewals of the Charter 
purchased at a heavy price, but in vain. The king took the 
money, but failed to keep his word. "The king breaks 
everything, the laws, his good faith, and his promises," wrote 
the monk, Matthew Paris. In 1242 the Council, now begin- 



Simon de Montfort 129 

ning to be known as the Parliament, went so far as to refuse 
Henry's request for a subsidy, and two years later an attempt 
was made to secure the appointment of officials who should act 
in all administrative matters and be held responsible to Par- 
liament. The innovation was too great to find acceptance, 
but it indicated the advance the nation was making in the con- 
ception of self-government. Still more important was the ap- 
pearance in the great council of 1254 of knights of the shire, Knights of 
men elected by the shire court to report on the amount of the Snire - 
money their counties were willing to contribute to the king's 
necessities. Throughout these dreary years of misrule, 
marked only by unsatisfied greed and fruitless opposition, 
the form and spirit of constitutional rule were taking 
shape. Slowly men were learning the identity of national 
interest. Still more slowly, the way to secure that interest. 

Simon de Montfort. — That revolt was so long delayed stubbs, 
was due in part to apathy in the nation, but still more to Early 
lack of a leader. All who had led in the earlier struggles plant ^ c "f 

00 pp. 184-187 ; 

with the crown were dead, Hubert de Burgh, Stephen Lang- Green, 
ton, his successor, Edmund Rich, and Grosseteste. But P p - I S 2 - I 54- 
among the swarm of hated aliens was a man who was soon 
to stand forth as the chief opponent of Henry and his 
oppressive rule. Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester and 
brother-in-law of the king, was at first scarcely distinguish- 
able from other foreign favorites at the court, but by 1244 
he had ranged himself definitely on the side of the barons. 
During the years that followed he was much abroad on 
public business, but in 1257 he returned to England and 
at once placed himself at the head of the opposition. It 
is not easy to understand Simon de Montfort 's true char- 
acter, nor to mark the steps by which the French courtier 
was transformed into the English patriot. Even to the men 
of his own time his character and career seemed full of 
contradictions. Generous and high-spirited, he was also 
overbearing and impatient of opposition. He showed him- 
self firm in his patriotic purpose, yet it is difficult to free 
him from the reproach of ambition. But whatever his faults, 



130 



Struggle for the Charter 



Stubbs, 

Early 

Plantagenets, 

pp. 187-201 ; 

Green, 

pp. 154-160. 



he gave the people the guidance and inspiration they so 
much needed and advanced England on the road toward 
constitutional freedom. 

The Barons' War. — In 1258 matters came to a crisis. 
Misled by foolish ambition, Henry had consented 'to be- 
come the tool of Innocent IV in his quarrels with the 




Provisions 
of Oxford. 



Bright, I, 
159-162. 



Wells Cathedral. Dedicated 1239 

House of Hohenstaufen, and had pledged England to fur- 
nish the sums necessary for carrying on the pope's wars. 
The patience of the country was at last exhausted and the 
king's demand for one-third the revenue of all England was 
met by open revolt. Under the lead of Leicester, the barons 
appeared in arms before Henry and demanded sweeping re- 
forms in the administration. Unable to resist, the king con- 
ceded all that was asked and, with his son Edward swore to 
observe the articles drawn up by the barons in the Parlia- 
ment of Oxford, — the Mad Parliament, as it was called by 



The Parliament of 1265 131 

the king's partisans. By the new scheme, the government 
was taken out of the hands of the king and intrusted to 
three committees made up of barons. This was an awk- 
ward and cumbersome device, sure to break down of its 
own weight. 

For five years England was governed in accordance with 
the Provisions of Oxford, but signs of weakness were soon 
manifest. Many of the barons were seeking their own ad- 
vancement rather than the national good ; and it was only 
by the combined efforts of Simon and Prince Edward, who 
had accepted the changes in the government in good faith, 
that they were brought in 1259 to extend to their vassals 
the concessions they had wrung from the king. Moreover, 
a breach soon appeared between de Montfort and the greater 
barons. They feared his ambition, and he accused them of 
treachery. Henry, faithless as ever, induced the Pope to 
absolve him from his oath and made repeated attempts to 
free himself from baronial control. 

In the hope of avoiding bloodshed both parties agreed 
to refer the dispute to Louis IX of France. Louis was a Bright, I, 
saint, but he did not understand the situation in England. l62 ~ l68 - 
He saw in the demands of the barons an attempt to restore 
feudal rule, and the judgment which he gave was in favor 
of the crown. Many of the great barons accepted the 
Mise of Amiens, as Louis's decision was called, but the 
others, led by de Montfort and supported by the lower 
clergy, the towns, and the universities, rose in resistance. 
At Lewes, on the 14th of May, 1264, the two forces met; Lewes, 1264 
the Royalists were completely defeated, and Henry and 
Edward were taken prisoners. 

The Parliament of 1265. — During the year following 
Leicester ruled England in the king's name, but his path was 
beset with difficulties. To strengthen his position he took 
the step which has brought lasting honor upon his name. 
Turning to the people, he called a Parliament to which, in 
addition to the baronage, he summoned two knights from 
every shire and with them two burgesses from every borough. 



132 



Struggle for the Charter 



Evesham, 
1265. 



Source-Book, 
pp. 84-89. 



Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp. 202-205. 



Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets , 
pp. 210-215. 



Bright, I, 
193-196. 



Knights and burgesses had long met in the county court to 
discuss their common interests ; now for the first time they 
sat side by side with bishops and barons in the national 
council. It was the last despairing effort of the great earl. 
Already his government was giving way : the hostility of the 
pope, the jealousy of the baronage, the loyalty of the nation 
to its king united to undermine his power. Within a few 
months the country was again at war, and the end came 
soon. At Evesham on the Welsh border, Simon met defeat 
and death (August 4, 1265). 

For a moment it seemed that the cause of freedom was 
lost, but Prince Edward, the victor of Evesham, came forward 
to carry on Simon's work. The remaining years of Henry's 
reign were peaceful and prosperous. The strength of the 
opposition was broken with Leicester's death, and through 
the influence of Edward, already the real ruler of the country, 
many of the reforms for which the barons had contended 
were granted by a Parliament which met at Marlborough in 
1267. 

Edward I (1 272-1307). — With the death of Henry III 
ended the days of foreign kingship. English in name and 
English in feeling, Edward I, greatest of the Plantagenets, 
stands out as a truly national king. A man of action, 
thoroughly in earnest, and convinced of the righteousness 
of his purpose, he was often impatient and high-handed ; 
but he was generous and wise and just, and not without 
reason were the words, Pactum serva, inscribed upon his 
tomb by a later generation as the motto of his life. 

Legislation. — Edward came to the throne with a clear 
understanding of the task before him. He originated little 
that was new, but he worked out in detail and adapted to 
the needs of his generation the materials that lay ready to 
hand. It was an age of lawyers and law-making, and in 
this Edward typified his time. He has been called the 
English Justinian, and the far-reaching legislation of his 
reign makes it an epoch in English legal history. Edward 
developed the judicial system along the lines already laid 



Financial Measures 133 

down, organizing the central courts of justice into three 
separate tribunals, the King's Bench, the Exchequer, and 
the Court of Common Pleas. He defined and limited the 
jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts, and by the Statute 
of Mortmain 1 in 1279 restricted the giving of lands to the 
Church. Another important measure was the Statute Quia 
Emptores, which was enacted by Parliament in 1 290, seemingly 
in the interests of the baronage ; but the law, by putting a 
check on sub-infeudation, struck a fatal blow at the princi- 
ple of feudalism. 

By the Statute of Winchester (1285) Edward revived and statute of 
organized the ancient institutions of police and defence. Winchester 
Every man was forced to hold himself in readiness to serve 
the king at home, and every district was made responsible 
for crimes committed within its bounds. " If any will not 
obey the arrest," so ran the statute, " the officers shall levy stubbs, 
the hue and cry upon them, and such as keep the watch Select 

shall follow with hue and cry with all the town and towns Cha " 

pp. 472-474. 

near, and so hue and cry shall be made from town to town 
until that they be taken and delivered to the sheriff." An- 
other provision throws light on the disordered state of the 
country: "And further it is commanded that highways 
leading from one market town to another shall be en- 
larged so that there be neither dyke, tree, nor bush, 
whereby a man may lurk to do hurt, within two hundred 
foot of the one side and two hundred foot on the other 
side of the way." 

Financial Measures. — Edward was quick to realize the Stubbs, 
need of financial reform. He caused the coinage to be re- " r * 

Plantagenets 

newed, and ordered that, henceforth, its shape should be pp . 215-220. 
round to check the practice of clipping. Trade had become 
a matter of national concern. It was increasing, and the 
king's rights of prize were of great value. 2 In 1275 Edward 
agreed to accept a specified custom in money in lieu of 

1 Private estates were often surrendered to the Church as a device for 
escaping feudal dues. 

2 Indefinite payments in kind exacted from native exports. 



134 



Struggle for the Charter 



Green, 

pp. 223, 224. 

Expulsion of 
the Jews, 
1290. 



Green, 

pp. 163-169. 



the old tolls. This was the origin of the Ancient Custom, 
henceforth an important part of the royal revenue. 

In 1290 Edward banished all the Jews from the realm. 
Economic considerations united with religious feeling in 
this act. The Jews had always occupied a peculiar position 
in England. Since the Conqueror's day, they enjoyed the 
especial protection of the king, but they had no legal rights 
against him. Repeatedly the crown stood between them 
and the persecuting frenzy of the people, but in return had 
plundered them at will. In spite of this insecure position 
they had prospered greatly. The taking of usury was for- 
bidden to Christians, and the Jews became the national 
money-lenders. Religious fervor combined with jealous 
greed to rouse against them the hostility of the Church and 
the laity. Jewries were sacked by fanatic mobs and laws 
were passed circumscribing their rights. Finally Edward 
yielded to the representations of the clergy and the barons, 
and in return for a large grant of money, ordered their ex- 
pulsion from the kingdom. Some sixteen thousand went 
into exile, and for nearly four centuries no Jew set foot in 
England. 

The Conquest of Wales. — Edward was constantly drawn 
away from the congenial task of legislation by matters aris- 
ing outside of England. He was not indifferent to the fate 
of his French possessions, on the contrary, no English king 
did more for the welfare of Aquitaine than Edward I ; 
and although he strove to gain his ends by peaceful meas- 
ures rather than by war, he succeeded in making himself 
respected and feared abroad. But England was first in his 
plans, and he saw, as no one before him had seen, that the 
real interests of the island kingdom were bounded by the 
four seas. His foreign policy, in a word, was a British 
policy, the union of all Britain under one rule, and to that 
he subordinated continental concerns. 

The English kings had long claimed the princes of Wales 
as their vassals and had often forced them to pay homage. 
By constant fighting the lords marchers (p. 69) had slowly 



136 



Struggle for the Charter 



Llewelyn. 



Bright, I, 
175-177- 



Statute of 
Wales, 1233. 



Green, 

pp. 184-189. 



gained control of the borderlands, until, by the thirteenth 
century, Anglesey and the adjacent mainland alone remained 
independent. During the reign of Henry III, the Welsh, 
under Llewelyn, Lord of Snowdon, came to the aid of de 
Montfort, and regained part of their lost territories. On 
the accession of Edward I, Llewelyn had refused to pay 
homage; but the vigorous measures of the English king 
forced him to full submission, with the surrender of much of 
his domain. Edward at once set about reorganizing the 
government of the conquered territory. In the reforms that 
he introduced he unwisely disregarded Welsh prejudices, 
and a formidable revolt broke out under the leadership of 
Llewelyn and his brother David. Edward now determined 
on the complete conquest of the country, since the lawless 
and turbulent Welsh princes were a constant menace to the 
peace of England. Every outbreak was sure of their assist- 
ance, every rebel found a refuge among them. It was plain 
there could be no lasting tranquillity until they were subdued 
and brought under English rule. 

Large forces were poured into Wales (1282). Llewelyn 
was killed early in the struggle, but David and his sup- 
porters, entrenched in the inaccessible fastnesses of Snow- 
don, held out during the winter. In the following summer 
he was captured, tried by a Parliament convened at Shrews- 
bury, and condemned to death for having rebelled against 
the lord to whom he had sworn fealty. With David ended 
the last hope of Welsh independence. Edward had now 
free hand in Wales. Taught by experience, he did not dis- 
regard the customs of the country unnecessarily. By the 
Statute of Wales passed in 1283 the English shire system 
was introduced and the government placed in the hands of 
royal officials. To make good his hold upon the country, 
the king built a strong line of castles along the frontier, 
— Conway, Carnarvon, Harlech, and Beaumaris. 

Edward and Scotland. — During the thirteenth century, 
the diverse race elements of Scotland were slowly coming 
together and national feeling was growing, even though the 



Edward and Scotland 



37 



distinction between the Celt of the Highlands and the Anglo- 
Norman of the Lothians was still sharply marked. Long- 
continued peace had brought increased order and prosperity, * 
yet as a whole the northern kingdom lagged behind the 
southern in social and political development. The crown 
was weak, the baronage strong and unruly, there were few 
towns, and a middle class scarcely existed. 

For centuries the political relation of Scotland to England 
had been a subject of dispute. Relying on the tradition of 

Alp^ ISA ff* 










Conway Castle 

Clark, Medieval Military Architecture in England 

the oath taken to Edward the Elder (p. 49), the English kings 
had always asserted a claim to overlordship, but the Scots had 
as steadily denied it. The oath of homage did not, as they 
understood it, involve feudal dependence. The question 
had been waived for many years, and frequent intermarriage 
between the royal houses had helped maintain friendly rela- 
tions between the two kingdoms. 

In 1286 the king of Scots, Alexander III, died, leaving Bright, I, 
as his only heir Margaret of Norway, a sickly child of three l8 °- 186 - 
years. She was at once proclaimed queen, and a regency 
governed Scotland in her name. Edward hoped to secure 
the welfare of both kingdoms by uniting the two dynas- 



Reneival of War 139 

ties, and succeeded (1290) in negotiating the betrothal of 
the little queen of Scots to Edward, his son and heir. By 
the terms of the marriage treaty Scotland was to remain 
" separate and divided and free in itself, without subjection 
to the realm of England." 

Before the year was out, Edward's plans were unhappily 
set at naught by the death of the Maid of Norway. Mar- 
garet was the last of the direct royal line of Scotland, and at 
once a number of claimants to the crown appeared. Per- 
plexed, the regents turned to Edward for advice, but he 
refused to interfere unless his overlordship was recognized. 
To this the barons finally agreed, although the commons are 
recorded to have made some objection. His claims once 
accepted, Edward acted with fairness and wisdom, giving 
his decision finally in favor of John Balliol, grandson of John BaiiioL 
the eldest daughter of David, brother of William the Lion 
( 1 165-12 14). The award of Norham was accepted by the 
Scots, and in 1292 Balliol was crowned king at Scone, and 
paid homage to Edward as his feudal lord. 

Renewal of War. — In 1292 Edward's power was at its 
height. His supremacy was acknowledged throughout the 
island, he had the good-will of his subjects, England was at 
peace at home and abroad. Nowhere was there a sign that 
the crisis of the reign was impending, and yet in a few years 
England had turned against him, Wales and Scotland had 
risen in revolt, and Gascony, almost the last of the continental 
possessions of Henry II, had fallen into the hands of the 
king of France. 

Quarrels between French and Gascon sailors (1293) were 
the beginning of trouble. Philip of France, ever on the 
alert to press an advantage, used the affair to assert his feu- 
dal rights as overlord and, on Edward's refusal to appear 
before him, invaded Gascony. Edward would have had 
little difficulty in resisting Philip had not disaffection in 
Wales and Scotland, fanned by the French king's intrigues, 
tied his hands. 

All Wales rose (1294) in a despairing effort to throw off 



140 



Struggle for the Charter 



Green, 

pp. 189, 190. 



Alliance of 
France and 
Scotland. 



Green, 
pp. 173-181. 
Stubbs, 
Early 

Plantagenets, 
pp. 221-227. 



the hated English rule, and during the winter months Ed- 
ward's resources were strained in the reconquest of the 
country. With the spring the rising was crushed, and Ed- 
ward turned to meet the greater dangers that threatened 
him in the north. The peace that had followed Balliol's 
coronation was not of long duration. With generous in- 
terpretation of his feudal rights, Edward had encouraged 
appeals from the local courts of Scotland to his own tribunal 
at Westminster. Balliol resented this, and was upheld in 
his refusal to appear before Edward to answer the charges 
against him by the growing national feeling of his subjects. 
This resistance was made more formidable by the alliance 
concluded between France and Scotland in 1295. 1 

Conquest of Scotland. — For the moment, the Scottish 
uprising seemed to further Edward's plan for the consolida- 
tion of Britain. In the spring of 1296 he led an army over 
the Border. The commercial town of Berwick surrendered 
after a three days' siege, and a few weeks later the victory 
of Dunbar put an end to the resistance of the Scots. Before 
the summer was over Balliol was a prisoner, and at a Parlia- 
ment held at Berwick the Scottish magnates took* the oath 
of fealty to Edward as their king. The conquest of Scot- 
land seemed complete. Edward showed true statesmanship 
in his treatment of the conquered. English officials were 
placed over the country, but the people were left undis- 
turbed in their lands and their laws. 

Model Parliament. — Edward was now ready to turn his 
attention to France, but a new danger confronted him in the 
rebellious attitude of his English subjects. Throughout his 
reign Edward had shown that the lessons of his father's 
reign were not lost upon him. He loved power, but he real- 
ized the necessity of securing the cooperation of his subjects 
in the government of the country, and he had repeatedly 
called together Parliaments more or less representative of 
the whole people to advise with him in national concerns. 

1 This was the beginning of a connection between the two countries 
which was to last for three centuries. 



Constitutional Questions 



141 



When in 1295 the king found himself attacked on all 
sides, he turned to the nation for support, and called to- 
gether at Westminster men of every class, recognizing their 




Parliament of Edward I 

From an old print 



right to act in words taken from the Roman law, "What 
touches all must be agreed to by all." Bishops and barons. 



I42 Struggle for the Charter 

summoned by personal writ, met with representatives of the 
people, knights of the shire, and burgesses of the boroughs, 
summoned by general writ through the sheriffs ; the lower 
clergy also were represented. 

The meeting of the Parliament of 1295, the Model Par- 
liament as it is sometimes called, marks a turning-point in 
Source-Book, English constitutional history. From that day to this the 
pp. 89-91. form of England's national council has remained essentially 
unchanged, its place in the government has been scarcely 
questioned. 
Stubbs, Edward and the Clergy. — Edward's confidence in his 

Early subjects was not misplaced, since the Parliament of 1295 

Plantagenets, ,,., , ' ,, 

pp. 234-238. voted him large grants of money ; but the next two years 
were full of difficulties which tested to the utmost the 
constancy of the king and the forbearance of the people. 
Throughout the reign the burden of taxation had been 
great, due in part to debts handed on from Henry's time 
and in part to the costly nature of Edward's enterprises. 
The demands upon the national resources were steadily 
increasing. In 1296 the lower clergy, led by the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury and relying upon papal support, 
refused an aid demanded by the king. In retaliation 
Edward issued a decree of outlawry against them, and 
soon brought them to terms. But disaffection was spread- 
ing. Pressed for money, Edward had aroused the hostility 
of the merchants by seizing their stores of wool and leather. 
Many of his measures of reform were resented by the nobles, 
and when in 1297 he summoned them to lead an expedition 
into France, he was met by refusal. 

Confirmation of the Charters. — Edward found he had 
gone too far ; townsfolk and barons, clergy and laity, united 
in demanding that he should renew the Great Charter with 
additional clauses, limiting still more the royal power of 
taxation. Leaving his son and ministers to act for him, 
Edward withdrew to Flanders, and in October, 1297, the 
Confirmatio Cartarum was issued in his name. By this act 
the king bound himself never again to take " aids, tasks, and 



War with Scotland 



143 



prizes, but by the common assent of the realm." The Con- 
firmation of the Charters stands as a landmark in English 
constitutional history, for from it dates the nation's first real 
control over the revenue ; in Edward's concessions was 
summed up all that had been gained since the time of 
John. 

War with Scotland. — The remaining years of Edward's Green, 
reign were occupied by the struggle with Scotland. The pp- I 9 I ~ IQ 3. 
turbulent nobles resented Edward's orderly government, and 
the people, exasperated by the tyranny of his ministers, Bright, I. 
ioined hands with them in an effort to make Scotland free, i^-^ 2 - 




Bothwell Castle, Lanarkshire 
From an old print 

Common hatred of foreign rule was creating a Scottish 
nation. Under the leadership of William Wallace, an out- William 
lawed knight, the general disaffection found expression in Wallace, 
open revolt (1297). For a time the Scots were successful, 
driving out the English, and even crossing the border to 
ravage the northern counties, Westmoreland and Northum- 
berland. Early in 1298 Edward, having settled his difficul- 
ties with France, led a large force of English and Welsh 
against the Scots. On the 2 2d of July the two armies met 



144 Struggle for the Charter 

Falkirk, at Falkirk. Wallace's reliance was his pikemen 1 thrown 

1298. j nt0 f our g reat squares. The English horse charged in vain, 

and it was only when Edward, following the tactics learned 
in the Welsh wars, brought up his bowmen, that he suc- 
ceeded in breaking the Scottish lines, and in winning a brill- 
iant victory. But the Scots though beaten were unsubdued, 
and year after year the war was renewed. In 1304, think- 
ing the conquest achieved, Edward summoned a Parliament 
to which representatives of the Scots were called to draw up 
a plan of government for the dependent kingdom. The 
ordinance adopted was wise and conciliatory, but the time 
was not ripe for such a measure. Two years later Scotland 
rose in revolt, and rejecting the English rule chose as king 

Robert Robert Bruce, grandson of one of the claimants of 1290. 

Bruce. The whole work of conquest was to be done over again. In 

the spring of 1307, as Edward was leading an army north- 
wards, he died near Carlisle, leaving the Scots still defiant. 

Traill, I, England in the Thirteenth Century. — Edward I was 

the worthy son of a great age. The thirteenth century 
is one of the creative periods in the world's history, re- 
markable for its achievements in literature and art and poli- 
tics. In England it was a period of unparalleled national 
and constitutional growth. The Great Charter, the struggle 
waged by Simon de Montfort and his party, the Model Par- 
liament, the Confirmation of the Charters are milestones 
marking England's progress toward constitutional liberty. 

Language and Literature. — The development of patriot- 
ism had not yet brought about the restoration of English 
as the national language. True, the year that saw the loss 
of the French provinces saw also the appearance of Laya- 
mon's Brut, the first English work since the Saxon Chron- 
icles came to an end, and the Provisions of Oxford were 
published in the vernacular as well as in Latin, but the pop- 
ular tongue was not yet the speech of the court. 2 Latin was 

1 Foot-soldiers armed with spears or pikes. 

2 There is no evidence that even Edward I understood a word of Eng- 
lish. 



440-450. 



Architecture 



145 



still the language of literature, while French was gaining 
ground in official and legal use. 

Architecture. — It was in architecture, and not in litera- 
ture, that the spirit of the time found its truest expression. 
In the latter part of the twelfth century Norman architec- 
tural forms were giving way before a style more truly national. 
The restoration of Canterbury after the fire of n 74 marks 



the transi- 
the pointed 
early Eng- 
tecture, was 
brilliancy of 
stone vault- 
Salisbury, 
the reign of 
ing exam- 
thirteenth 




Traill, I v 
4I5-427- 



tion from the round Norman arch to 

Gothic. Under John and Henry, the 

lish, the first purely indigenous archi- 

in its glory. Lightness, delicacy, the 

stained glass, the soaring vastness of 

ing, characterized the new order. 

Westminster, and Wells, all built in 

Henry III, are splendid and endur- 

ples of the grand conceptions of the 

century. 



Salisbury Cathedral. Built 1220-1258 

The spire is of fourteenth-century date 



146 



Struggle for the Charter 



Important Events 

Reign of John, 1199-1216. 

Loss of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, Touraine, 1204. 
England surrendered in fief to the Pope, 1213. 
Signing of the Great Charter, 1215. 

Reign of Henry III, 1216-1272. 

Wise government of Hubert de Burgh, 1219-1232 

Misgovernment of the king, 1232-1258. 

The Mad Parliament, 1258. 

Mise of Amiens ; battle of Lewes, 1264. 

Parliament of 1265. 

Battle of Evesham ; death of de Monttort, 1265. 

Reign of Edward I, 1272-1307. 

Welsh revolt suppressed, 1 282-1 284. 
Expulsion of the Jews, 1290. 
The Model Parliament, 1295. 
Confirmation of the Charters, 1297. 
The Scottish wars, 1 295-1307. 




Seal of Edward I 



Chief Contemporaries 147 



r « „ 2 M . §0 



w '-a 



CHAPTER VI 

THE RISE OF THE COMMONS 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 

Documents illustrating the Peasants' Rising and the Lollards, edited 

by Powell and Trevelyan. 
Langland, Piers Plowman, edited by Warren. 
Froissart's Chronicles, edited by Berner. 
The Boy's Froissart, edited by Lanier. 
Political Poems and Songs from Edward III to Richard HI, edited 

by Wright. 

Special Authorities 
Tout, Political History of England, Vol. Ill, ch. XII-XIX. 
Edwards, England from 1272-1486. 
Oman, Political History of England, Vol. IV, ch. I-VI. 
Stubbs, Early Plantagenets. 
Longman, Life and Times of Edward III. 
Trevelyan, England in the Age of IVycliffe. 
Serjeant, John IVyclif 
Powell, Peasant Rising in East Anglia. 
Gasquet, The Great Pestilence. 
Oman, The Great Revolt of/jSf. 
Burton, History of Scotland. 

Imaginative Literature 

Chaucer, Canterbury Tales. 
Marlowe, Edward II. 
Shakespeare, Richard II. 
Converse, F., Long Will. 
Rossetti, The King's Tragedy. 
Morris, The Dream of John Ball. 

Characteristic Features of the Epoch. — The fourteenth 
century witnessed a momentous change in the relation of 
classes in England. As we follow the history of its wars and 
civil dissensions, it seems a degenerate age, a period of waste 
and decay, and certainly the court and the baronage lost much 
148 



The Right of Taxation 149 

in energy and prestige. If, however, we study the move- 
ments that agitated the lower ranks of society, we find symp- 
toms of growing power. The serf, the artisan, the small 
freeholder, the merchant, men of the industrial as distin- 
guished from the military classes, experienced an increase in 
prosperity that gave them courage to strive for better things. 
The aspirations of the people found expression in diverse 
ways. Thought was quickened and ennobled, -men sought 
to perpetuate ideas in books, and a national literature was 
born. The religious instinct was deepened, and a purer 
faith rejected the authority of a degenerate Church. The 
old restraints grew irksome, and men strove to free them- 
selves from the burdens imposed by lord and king, to secure 
social advancement and political influence. So it came about 
that in the last years of the century the people had grown 
strong enough to play their part in the long struggle against 
the arbitrary power of the king. 

The Right of Taxation. — Progress toward constitutional 
government was a direct consequence of the financial neces- 
sities of the crown. During the period under consideration, 
military expenses constituted the most serious item in the 
royal debit account. The determination to regain control 
of Scotland suggested perennial raids across the Border, 
while the claim to the crown of France preferred by Edward 
III involved England in twenty-five years of war. The 
burden of taxation became well-nigh unendurable. 

The cost of martial expeditions was defrayed by grants 
voted in Parliament with little grumbling, for the people 
were ready to pay taxes where the glory of the English name 
was at stake ; but the expenses of the royal household were 
not so cheerfully met. Men argued that the king should 
" live of his own," that his court should be maintained out 
of the revenue from the royal demesne. Now the crown 
estates had been considerably reduced by sale and gift since 
the Conqueror's day, so that the private revenue of the sov- 
ereign had fallen off at the same time that the life of the 
court had waxed more luxurious. The ordinary income of 



The Right of Taxation 151 

the king, that from the royal estates and from legitimate 
aids and customs, was probably at this time about ^65,ooo. x 
Of this sum, from ;£ 10,000 to ,£15,000 was spent upon the 
royal household, the rest being devoted to the maintenance 
of the king's castles, the army, the navy, and the civil service. 
;£i 5,000 was perhaps not an extravagant sum to allow for 
keeping up an establishment that must compare favorably 
with the courts of continental monarchs, but the people 
fretted under the burden, and a number of clumsy efforts 
were made to control the royal expenditure. 

The Charter confirmed in 1297 bound the king to levy 
no extraordinary taxes " without the common consent of 
the realm and to the common profit thereof." Edward I 
loyally observed the limitations so imposed, but his suc- 
cessors were less scrupulous. The king's lawyers were not 
slow to find means of evading the Charter, and the parlia- 
mentary records of the period abound in protests against 
illegal taxation. Exorbitant sums were exacted from the 
royal demesnes, where the people, being immediate depend- 
ents of the crown, could make no effective resistance ; new Traill, II, 
customs duties were imposed by special arrangement with I48, 
the merchants, export duties on wool and import duties on 
wine and other luxuries ; but the favorite device of a needy 
monarch was to borrow the money he could not raise by 
taxation. There was no lack of opportunity. The Jewish 
money-lenders, the never failing resource of preceding 
kings, had been banished from England ; but there were 
Italian bankers and Flemish merchants who might always 
be relied on to accommodate a royal spendthrift, and the 
Pope himself was not averse to loaning money on good 
security. These debts were of course a charge on future 
revenue and must eventually be made good by taxation. 
Money was not unfrequently extorted from wealthy English 
prelates and the prosperous towns of the realm, on the Traill, II, 
pretence of repayment, but subjects gave with a bad grace, I 4 8 - I 5°- 

1 Money values must be multiplied by 10 to estimate the equivalent in 
money of to-day. 



152 The Rise of the Commons 

since the royal creditor had a poor memory for such 
obligations and could not safely be pressed. The most 
vexatious resource, and that which roused deepest animosity 
among the people, was the so-called right of purveyance. 
On the magnificent royal progresses through the realm, the 
king's officers provided for the needs of his household at 
the expense of the inhabitants. Food and shelter were 
demanded at the lowest prices and with no security for 
payment. The carts and horses, even the personal ser- 
vices of the peasants, were called into requisition, not 
merely for the king's use, but at the convenience of any 
one of the royal officers who dared ask them in the king's 
name. This abuse of power was frequently protested, and 
reform was no less frequently promised, but since it was an 
ancient privilege and dear to the heart of royalty, it was 
not readily relinquished. No practice was better calculated 
to bring home to the understanding of the common people 
the inconveniences of tyranny. 
Green, Edward II (1307-1327). — These questionable preroga- 

tives of the crown were enlarged to dangerous proportions 
by Edward II. The foolish and incompetent son of the 
great Edward was not so much despotic as self-willed and 
indulgent. He looked upon his realm as a fair pasture 
wherein he and his friends might batten at their will. The 
prime favorite was Piers Gaveston, a needy French courtier, 
brilliant and lovable even at this distance of time and 
space, a loyal friend but a dangerous adviser. For this 
petted gallant, great estates were carved from the royal 
demesne. He was made Earl of Cornwall, and when the 
king went over-sea to bring home his French bride, Gav- 
eston was appointed regent of the realm. The gay Gascon 
showed little discretion. He boldly enriched his relatives 
at the expense of the royal treasury and flung gibes at the 
great English lords, reckless of their sullen wrath. 

His insolence soon involved himself and his master in 
difficulties. In 13 10 a convention of the barons, under the 
lead of Thomas of Lancaster, the king's cousin, presented a 



pp. 207-209. 



The Loss of Scotland 153 

solemn protest. They complained that the people were 
burdened by heavy and illegal taxes, while the kingdom 
lay undefended, the money that should have been devoted 
to the Scotch war being wasted on unworthy favorites. The Green, 
king attempted no resistance, but allowed the government pp- 226 « 22 7> 
to be placed in commission for a year. Twenty-one Lords Lords 
Ordainers were appointed to act for the king, and a series Ordainers. 
of ordinances was drawn up which Edward was forced to 
confirm. Gaveston was banished from the realm, together 
with the Italian bankers who had connived at the royal 
extravagance. The king was forbidden to alienate the royal 
demesne and was told that he must hereafter " live of his 
own." No unusual taxes might be levied, nor could the 
king raise an army, go to war, or quit the realm without con- 
sent of the barons. Parliament was to be convened at least 
once a year to consider such requests from the king. This 
was as signal a triumph as that won over Henry III in 1258. 

The Loss of Scotland. — The Ordinances gave the barons Green, 
control of the government, but the division of responsibility PP- 21I ~ 216 - 
proved disastrous. When in 13 14 news came that Stirling, 
the last stronghold of the English in Scotland, was about 
to fall into the hands of the Bruce, and the king, moved to a source-Book, 
great effort, led an army to its rescue, the barons refused to pp- 9 2 . 93- 
follow on the ground that the Lords Ordainers had not 
consented to the war. The Scotch were not so divided. 
Noble and peasant fought side by side for a common cause, 
and in the battle of Bannockburn (1314) they won an Bannock- 
overwhelming victory. The union of the two kingdoms, burn > Z 2H 
projected by Edward I, was brought to naught. Even the 
oath of homage formerly rendered by the king of Scots to 
the king of England was henceforth withheld. The dis- 
content of the English found vent in frequent raids across 
the Border, which were promptly retaliated in kind, and 
the whole north country was wasted by war for a century 
to come ; but the lost kingdom was not reconquered. In 
the bitter struggle against their would-be masters, the Scots 
sought aid in France. The alliance enhanced the dangers 



Civil War 155 

of the situation, since the French were now added to the 
ring of hostile Celts that encompassed the English domain. 

Civil War. — Meantime the quarrel between Edward and Green, 
the barons approached a crisis. The king refused to banish pp ' 2I °' 2I1 
Gaveston, and the favorite was seized and put to death by 
the irate barons (131 2). Edward was for the moment 
unable to retaliate, but when his new favorites, the De- 
spensers, were attacked, he took up arms against his foes, 
got possession of Lancaster, and condemned him to be 
beheaded as a rebel against the royal authority. His exe- 
cution gave rise to a blood feud in which Edward's parti- 
sans were likely to be outnumbered. The Despensers had 
the good sense to see that the king's best course was an 
appeal to the loyalty of the people. A Parliament was 
therefore convened in 1322, the Ordinances were repealed, 
and it was decreed that all matters concerning the king and 
the realm must be enacted in full Parliament with the con- 
sent of the "prelates, earls and barons, and the commonalty 
of the realm." Thus the powers arbitrarily assumed by 
the barons were restored to the national assembly. 

This principle, if accepted in its full import by the king, 
would have guaranteed him against further revolt, but 
Edward's foolish fondness for his favorites had raised up 
foes in his own household. His queen, Isabel, resolving 
to avenge the slights put upon her, fled with her paramour, 
Roger Mortimer, to France. Prince Edward joined her 
there, and the three concerted rebellion. Landing on the 
south coast (1326), they were joined by the leading barons. 
London declared for the prince, the Despensers were 
hanged, and a Parliament was convened at Westminster, 
where the helpless king was forced to abdicate, and young 
Edward was proclaimed king in his stead. The principal 
actors in this poor tragedy were, it is true, inspired by self- 
ish and unworthy motives, and hardly deserved the success 
they achieved ; but they wrought better than they knew. 
In appealing to Parliament to displace an unworthy king, 
the victors revived the ancient right of the nation and 



i 5 6 



The Rise of the Commons 



Green, 

pp. 223-231. 



Traill, II, 42. 



acknowledged in the national assembly an authority supe- 
rior to that of the sovereign. 

Edward III (1327-1377). — Coming to the throne under 
such conditions, Edward III could not consistently dispute 
the authority of Parliament. Indeed, he was not the man to 
enter into a constitutional contest. The third Edward was 
by instinct a general, not a statesman, and his energies were 
absorbed in the long war with France. So long as Parlia- 
ment sanctioned his military enterprises and voted supplies 
for his army, he was ready to make any concessions required 
of him. 

The French Crown. — Of the continental dominions of 
Henry II, Aquitaine only remained, and this fair province 
was wavering in her allegiance and inclined to admit the 
suzerainty of the French king. Edward III was ambitious 
to restore the military prestige of his race, and entered 
thoughtlessly into the project of conquest which ultimately 
cost England dear. Grounds of quarrel were not lacking. 
The aggressions of Philip VI in Guienne, his alliance with 
the Scots, his demand that Edward should make good the 
damage done to French merchants by English sailors in the 
Channel, — all these were serious grievances, but they did 
not justify Edward's pretensions to the French crown. His 
claim 1 was based on the fact that he was, through his 
mother, Isabel, the only surviving grandchild of Philip the 
Fair, while Philip VI was but the son of a younger branch. 
The French courts repudiated the claim, citing the Salic law 
to prove that the succession could not be claimed through a 
woman, but this was a mere lawyer's quibble. The essential 



Claim of Edward III to the throne of France : - 
Philip III, the Bold, 1270-1285 



Philip IV, the Fair, 1285-1314 



Louis X, Philip V, 
1314-1316 1316-1322 



Charles of Valois 

I 

Philip VI, 1328-1350 
Charles IV, Isabel, m. Edward II I 

1322-1328 John, the Good, 1350-1364 

Edward III I 

Charles V, the Wise 



The Invasion of France 157 

right of Philip, and that which Joan of Arc urged for his 
successor one hundred years later, was that the French 
people should be ruled by a French king. 

Of the two monarchs, Edward was far better equipped 
for war. The export of wool to Flanders brought a steady 
revenue to the merchants in return cargoes, to the royal 
treasury in the form of export duties. The English army 
was made up in good part of levies of yeoman archers, who, 
being liberally paid for their service on foreign soil, insured 
to the king a stanch and loyal force. Philip could bring 
against these trained foot-soldiers only an unruly feudal 
array. The bulk of his troops were mounted knights, the 
liveried retainers of the great vassals. Discipline, general- 
ship, were impossible. There was in France no system of 
national taxation such as the English Parliament afforded. 
The moneys wrung from the common people were spent by 
the court and nobility in wasteful display. Edward feared 
invasion from Scotland ; Philip had to cope with no less 
a danger in the hostility of the Flemish cities. He had 
foolishly incurred the wrath of the burghers by laying an 
embargo on English wool, and they were ready to furnish 
harborage and supplies to the fleet of his rival. Edward 
could count also on aid from Hainault, the home of his 
queen, Philippa. 

The Invasion of France. — The first encounter took place 
off the Flemish coast. In the battle of Sluys (1340) the 
French fleet was destroyed, and the Channel was rendered 
safe for the English transports. Four years later, Edward 
ordered a general attack. One army was sent to Guienne, 
another to Brittany, while a third, under the immediate 
command of the king, landed at Barfleur. The chief Nor- 
man cities, Cherbourg, Caen, and Rouen, fell easy prey, and 
the English army advanced unopposed on Paris. But Ed- 
ward dared not risk a decisive battle so far from his base of 
supplies. He crossed the Seine and retreated northward, 
closely followed by the French. Overtaken at Crecy, he 
chose a favorable position and turned on his triumphant 



The English Triumph 



159 



pursuers. The battle proved the weakness of a feudal force 
brought face to face with disciplined troops. The stout English 
archers valiantly stood their ground, while the French knights Crecy, 1346. 
pushed to the front in defiance of orders, ruthlessly treading 
down the Genoese mercenaries 
in their path. The whole array 
was thrown into hopeless con- 
fusion and the rout was com- 
plete. Philip and the surviving 
nobles fled to Paris, and Edward 
was left free to invest Calais, 
a prosperous French port 
much coveted by English mer- 
chants. After an obstinate siege 
of twelve months' duration the 
town was forced to capitulate. 
The citizens were required to 
swear allegiance or leave the 
place, and Calais was peopled 
with English. It became a mart 
for the wool, lead, and tin ex- 
ported from Britain. 

The eight years' truce that Genoese crossbowman 
followed the fall of Calais was 

necessitated by the exhaustion of both parties to the war. 
Parliament refused to grant taxes and there was difficulty 
in filling up the depleted ranks of the army. The Black 
Death, a mysterious pestilence originating in the Orient, 
reached France in 1347 and England the following year. 
The dread disease slew thousands in a day and depopulated 
towns. The fighting force of both kingdoms was reduced 

by half. 

The English Triumph. — The war was renewed by the 
sons of the original contestants. King John had not the 
martial qualities of his father. Foolish and goodnatured, 
he possessed neither the wisdom to avoid war nor the reso- 
lution to prosecute an effective campaign. Edward, the 




i6o 



The Rise of the Commons 



Poitiers, 
1356. 



Black Prince, was a brilliant and daring warrior, but his 
personal courage was offset by a cruelty and greed that 
rendered him the prince of plunderers. In 1355 he landed 
at Bordeaux and ravaged the insurgent province of Guienne. 
Pushing north into Poitou, he encountered King John's 
army at Poitiers. Discipline and generalship again gave 
the victory to the English. The heedless valor of the French 
knights betrayed them to the deadly rain of yeoman arrows. 



ft i£§& 




Effigy of the Black Prince 



The dauphin with the flower of the French nobility fled the 
field. King John was taken prisoner and sent across the 
Channel to be held for ransom. Here, as at Crecy, the 
wreck of the French army was due to the vanity and turbu- 
lence of the feudal lords. Even Froissart, the chronicler of 
chivalry, records that " the nobles who returned from the 
battle were so hated and abused by the communes that they 
scarcely could venture to set foot in any of the good towns." 
Brilliant as was this victory, it did not secure the 
kingdom. The open country lay at the mercy of the 
invader, but the fortified places held loyally by the worth- 
less John. The Black Prince marched through Aqui- 
taine, burning villages and laying waste the cultivated fields, 
but such victories only served to embitter the French 
against his rule. City after city rose in revolt, and the 
barons summoned their retainers to a crusade against the 
foreigners. Finally peace was concluded (Bretigny, 1360). 



England Undone 161 

King Edward renounced his claim to the throne of France, 

but he was conceded the sovereignty of all the provinces south Peace of 

of the Loire, together with Calais and Ponthieu. King Br etigny 

John was to be ransomed at a cost of three million francs 

in gold. England yielded her pretensions to the Flemish 

allegiance, while France agreed to abandon her Scotch allies. 

England Undone. — The dauphin who fled from the 
bloody field of Maupertuis, was no soldier, but he developed 
a capacity for statescraft that made him more than a match 
for the Black Prince. Charles the Wise never faced his 
brilliant adversary in the open field, but he undertook to 
destroy the English army by cutting off its supplies. To 
this end he garrisoned the cities, but left the country dis- 
tricts to the cruel mercies of the enemy. The " free 
companies," lawless freebooters in the guise of military 
commands, dreaded the justice-loving king, and threw in 
their fortunes with the Black Prince. Thus the English 
won an evil reputation for rapine and violence, and their 
few adherents were alienated. Prince Edward marched to 
the very gates of Paris, pillaging and burning, but he won 
no territory. The return march was more disastrous than a 
battle lost, for two-thirds of his army perished from starva- 
tion and disease. At last the Black Prince, worn out by 
the exertions of these bloody years, returned to England 
to die. The Earl of Pembroke, who succeeded him in 
command, was unable to make a landing in Aquitaine. 
Attacked by the French fleet off La Rochelle, he met with La Roche 
crushing defeat. He himself was taken prisoner, and his 
vessels, even to the treasure ship, were captured and sunk. 
This loss was fatal to the English cause. Ponthieu, Guienne, 
and Gascony declared for France and drove out the alien 
garrisons. By 1374 nothing of the conquest remained save 
the seaports Calais, Cherbourg, Brest, Bordeaux, and Bayonne. 

Social and Constitutional Results. — The long and costly 

struggle was not merely fruitless, it was demoralizing. 

Courage and knightly honor were fostered, it is true, by 

these years of desperate adventure, but the same conditions 

M 



l62 



The Rise of the Commons 



Palgrave, 
House of 
Commons. 



Green, 

pp. 247, 248. 



bred brutality and lawlessness. Campaigning at an end, the 
nobles returned to England to spend in reckless extrava- 
gance the wealth amassed abroad. The common soldiers 
came home, broken in health and fortune, to find that 
opportunities to earn an honest living were generally closed 
to them. They readily drifted into vagabondage and crime. 

Disastrous as were the French campaigns, they served 
one useful purpose. They furnished the opportunity for 
constitutional progress. Great armies could not be main- 
tained without frequent appeals for money, and the Parlia- 
ments of this period were not slow to utilize such occasions 
for extorting concessions. Grants were voted only in return 
for redress of grievances, and the king was forced to sur- 
render, one after another, the most cherished prerogatives 
of the crown. Exclusive right of taxation was accorded 
to Parliament, together with the power to specify the 
object to which the supply should be devoted. The royal 
accounts were examined by auditors appointed by Parlia- 
ment, and the king's ministers were held responsible to 
the representatives of the people. These were great and 
important gains. They secured to Parliament in the four- 
teenth century authority almost coextensive with that exer- 
cised by the House of Commons to-day. 

Organization of the Two Houses. — Forty-eight Parlia- 
ments were convened in the fifty years of Edward Ill's reign, 
and the mass of business considered rendered effective 
organization necessary. The methods of procedure then 
determined upon are still observed, curious and antiquated 
though many of them seem. By 1343 the representatives 
of the several estates had established the custom of meeting 
in two distinct assemblies, the House of Lords and the House 
of Commons. In the House of Lords, the lineal descendant 
of the Great Council, sat some fifty barons and as many great 
ecclesiastics, who together represented the interests of a 
small fraction of the English nation, the privileged orders. 
Knights and burgesses originally sat apart as representing sepa- 
rate interests, but they gradually learned how much might be 



The Good Parliament 163 

gained by alliance. The knight spoke for his shire and the 
burgess for his borough, but both stood for the interests of the 
middle classes as opposed to those of the barons and clergy. 
Their union in the House of Commons was an important 
step in the process of constitutional development. Jointly 
the two estates gathered courage to undertake reforms that 
neither would have ventured alone. 

Misgovernment of the King's Ministers. — The reign of 
Edward III, held to be so brilliant by contemporary annalists, 
drew to a close in grief and gloom. Control of the Channel 
was lost at La Rochelle, and French pirates threatened the 
coast towns. The Prince of Wales was sick unto death. The 
old king was in his dotage. Ruled by his greedy, unscrupulous 
mistress, Alice Ferrers, he weakly yielded to the clamors of 
the cunning parasites who battened on the royal treasury. 
Bribery, peculation, fraud, every form of corruption, was rife 
at court. The ostentatious extravagance of the upper classes 
showed in startling contrast to the misery of the people. 

The government had fallen into the hands of John of 
Gaunt, a younger son of Edward III, 1 and the ablest of 
his house. He made but selfish use of his great power. 
Allying himself in political trickery with Alice Perrers, he 
winked at the malpractices of the court. When Parliament 
at last set about the work of reform, the Duke of Lancaster 
was recognized as a most dangerous opponent. 

The Good Parliament (1376). — The grievances of the Green, 
people were voiced by the House of Commons, now at last pp- 2 33~ 2 35- 
grown strong enough to act in advance of the Lords. En- 
couraged by the support of Prince Edward, they presented a 
remonstrance, boldly complaining of the extravagance and 
corruption of the court and denouncing the king's ministers 

1 The last of the Angevins : — 

Edward III 

I 

1 i i r 1 

Edward, the Black Lionel, Duke John of Gaunt, Edmund, Thomas, 

Prince, d. 1376 of Clarence Duke of Lancaster Duke of York Duke of 

1 I I I 
Richard II, 1377-1399 Philippa Henry IV , 



Gloucester 



Richard Anne 



164 



The Rise of the Commons 



Impeach- 
ment of the 
king's 
officers, 
1370. 



as evil counsellors. At first the reformers carried every- 
thing before them. Lyons and Latimer, officers of the king, 
were accused of gigantic financial frauds and solemnly im- 
peached. Heavy fines were imposed on Alice Perrers and 
others, convicted of receiving bribes. A Council of Govern- 
ment was chosen, composed of men who could be trusted 
to guard the interests of the nation. Petitions were pre- 
sented, one hundred and forty in number, protesting against 
the maladministration of the kingdom. The old king bent 
his head before this storm of indignation and granted all 
that was asked of him, but Lancaster bided his time. The 
death of Prince Edward that same year struck the ground 
from under the feet of the reform party. His son Richard 
was but a child of ten years, and John of Gaunt aspired to 
the succession. Hardly was the Good Parliament dissolved 
when its acts were arbitrarily revoked ; Alice Perrers, Lati- 
mer, and Lyons were recalled, and the leaders of the reform 
party punished. Lancaster convened a Parliament the 
following spring, having first looked well to it that the 
representatives sent to the House of Commons should be 
such as would serve his purpose. From an assembly so 
packed no resistance was to be feared, and necessary 
supplies were granted without opposition. So the first 
attempt of the Lower House to reform the government was 
undone because there was not in the representative body 
sufficient staying power for persistent opposition. 

Minority of Richard II. — Immediately on the death of 
the old king, a council of regency was appointed with John of 
Gaunt at its head. His administration was far from brilliant. 
The war with France was renewed, but carried on with so little 
energy that Ghent and Flanders passed into French control, 
and the Flemish trade, a rich source of profit, was lost to 
England. France grew so bold as to undertake invasion in 
her turn. A force was landed in the Isle of Wight and rav- 
aged the south coast. The formidable insurrection of the 
people that broke out in 1381 was in its political aspects 
a protest against the misgovernment of Lancaster. 




Richard II 

Westminster Abbey. Perhaps the oldest authenticated Portrait in England 



Richard II 's Deposition 165 

The inconstant Gaunt went over-sea in 1386 to follow a 
wild-goose chase in pursuit of the Spanish crown, and the 
regency came to the hands of the youngest of the king's 
uncles, the Duke of Gloucester. Hitherto Richard had 
been allowed to choose his own ministers and to waste the 
royal revenues unmolested. Inquiry was now made into the 
abuses of the court, and a council of reform was intrusted 
with the government. The king's effort to free himself was 
successfully withstood by the Lords Appellant, 1 and the 
"Merciless Parliament" (1388), acting at the instance of "Merciless 
Gloucester, impeached the friends and ministers of Richard Patlia - 
and condemned them to death. Thus far the young king I388- ' 
had seemed a submissive tool in the hands of the party in 
power; but in 1389 he suddenly shook off the restraint of 
the Council, announced himself of age, and took possession 
of the government. 

The Absolutism of Richard II. — For eight years Richard 
reigned in accordance with constitutional forms, but, in 1397, 
this policy was sharply reversed. Having secured a long 
truce with France by his marriage with the daughter of 
Charles VI, Richard, relieved of the embarrassment of 
foreign war, found his hands free to strike the long-delayed 
blow at the Lords Appellant. One after another they were 
seized, executed, or sent into exile. A packed Parliament 
voted their condemnation, declared the acts of the " Merci- 
less Parliament " void, granted the king a wool subsidy for 
life, and vested the legislative power in a permanent com- 
mittee made up of twelve peers and six commoners. Rich- 
ard now seemed absolute. Taxes were levied without regard Green, 
to right or usage. Men were even compelled to sign blank PP- 26j . 26z - 
promises to pay, which the king filled up with the sum he 
chose. Richard's enemies were thrown into prison or sent 
into exile without show of right. 

His Deposition. — But the work of two centuries could not 

1 The five great nobles who brought accusation of treason against the 
king's counsellors, — Gloucester, Arundel, Warwick, Nottingham, and 
Bolingbroke, 



1 66 The Rise of the Commons 

be so easily undone. The party of resistance found a leader 
Henry in Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, son and heir of 

Bohng- John of Gaunt. The prince, exiled by arbitrary decree of 

the king, returned in 1399 to claim not only his confiscated 
ancestral estates, but the crown itself. All elements of the 
opposition flocked to his standard, — outraged nobles no less 
than rebellious commons. Richard, betrayed into the hands 
of his foes, was forced to resign the throne. " Your people, 
my lord," said Lancaster, " complain that for the space of 
twenty years you have ruled them harshly ; however, if it 
please God, I will help you to rule them better." " Fair 
cousin," responded the helpless Richard, " since it pleases 
you, it pleases me well." The king was tried in full Par- 
liament and declared to be " useless, incompetent, and 
altogether insufficient and unworthy." The grounds for 
deposition were faithlessness toward divers of the great 
lords, transgression of the constitutional rights of the nation, 
and the assertion of absolute sovereignty. It was the tragic 
failure of Edward II repeated, but with a deeper significance. 
We may see a Piers Gaveston in Robert de Vere and a 
Thomas of Lancaster in the Duke of Gloucester ; but Rich- 
ard was a stronger man than Edward. His real character 
and purposes are probably distorted in the partisan report 
given us by the friends of the rival dynasty. It is evident, 
however, that he definitely projected an absolute sovereignty. 
The victory of Lancaster may thus be justly regarded as the 
triumph of constitutional government. 

Intellectual Revival. — In the realm of thought as well 
as in that of politics, the influence of the people began to 
make itself felt. The barren controversies of the scholastics 
were cast aside by the new university students. Men turned 
from the contemplation of abstruse problems of theology to 
more vital social and moral questions. 

It was most natural that this humanist literature should 
be expressed in the speech of the people. The fourteenth 
century, indeed, witnessed the final triumph of the English 
language. Though Latin continued for some time yet to 



Chancer 



167 



be spoken in the universities, English was, by the reign of 
Richard II, commonly used in the lower schools, and from Green, 
that time the native speech began to be used in Parliament pp ' 235, 2 3 6- 
and in the courts of law. French was still affected by the 
aristocracy ; but Chaucer and Langland and Wiclif, the great 
writers of the age, made noble use of the native tongue. 

Chaucer. — In Geoffrey Chaucer, the effect of Norman 
blood and continental 
culture makes itself 
felt by a lightness and 
grace foreign to the 
Saxon genius ; but in 
a certain simplicity 
and sincerity of ex- 
pression, in the frank 
realism of his thought, 
he is wholly English. 
His Canterbury pil- 
grims prance gayly 
through blooming 
lanes to the music 
of song and bagpipe, 
shortening the way 
with merry tales. 
The characteristic 
figures of mediaeval 
English society ride 
in the picturesque 
cavalcade. First of 
the merry company 

appears the courteous knight who has proved his valor on 
many a battlefield of France. Well he loves " truth and 
honor, freedom and courtesy." He and the blithe young 
squire who holds pace at his side, " a lover and a lusty 
bachelor," represent the best fruit of mediaeval chivalry. 
The attendant yeoman, " clad in coat and hood of green," 
bearing in hand a " mighty bow," may well be one of 




Chaucer 



168 The Rise of the Commons 

those who fought at Crecy and Poitiers. Worthy to ride 
among the gentry, in his own estimation at least, is the 
merchant with forked beard and foreign dress, " boasting 
always the increase of his winning." Of the gentry, too, 
are the sergeant of law, " wary and wise," a consequential 
body who ever " seemed busier than he was," and the 
doctor of physic who has grown rich on the Black Death 
and is dressed in scarlet and sky-blue silk like a great 
gentleman. The penniless clerk of Oxford bestrides a 
horse as lean " as is a rake." Hollow-eyed and sober, 
clad in threadbare coat, it is clear at a glance that like 
his great predecessor, Roger Bacon, he spent all he could 
beg or borrow " on books and on learning." A very differ- 
ent character is the fresh and ruddy franklin (freeholder), 
of excellent appetite, in whose hospitable hall it " snowed 
of meat and drink." The worthy vassal of a great lord, 
he has many times represented his shire in Parliament and 
has even served as sheriff of the county court. 

It is a marvellously vivid picture, a panorama of mediseval 

society, which teaches more of actual conditions than many 

a learned volume ; but it is after all a superficial view that 

Chaucer gives us. He does not adequately represent the 

forces at work in fourteenth-century England. His is the 

eye of an artist, delighting in the play of light and shade, 

and overlooking the sadder aspects of life. 

Green, William Langland. — Not so Langland; the rugged, in- 

PP- 255-258. artistic lines of this poor village priest bear witness to the 

Traill II § rim life-battle waged by the men of humble birth. The 

225-228. world was to him no gay show where a man might look 

on at the play, a disinterested spectator. Chaucer could 

jest at the corruption of the clergy, the venality of the 

courts, the arrogance of the upper classes, the servile vices 

of the poor, for, well-fed gentleman that he was, his personal 

happiness and that of his social order were not at stake ; 

but to Langland, born and bred among the people, making 

their struggle and sorrow his own, the misery of a world out 

of joint was a matter of galling personal experience. 



William Lang land 



169 



In the Vision of William concerning Piers Plotvman, we 
are shown, not a jocund cavalcade riding through April 
sunshine, but a panorama of busy toil. Wandering on 
Malvern Hills, bathing a troubled spirit in the beauty of a 
May morning, the poet sinks down in weariness by a brook- 
side and falls asleep. He dreams that the world lies before 
him, "a fair field full of folk." Toward the east, standing 
out clear against the sunlight, rises a tower, which is the 
habitation of Truth, the Father and Redeemer of men. 
On the other hand the ground sinks to a deep vale where 
lies a dungeon, " the castle of care." Wrong dwells therein, 
the Father of Falsehood, the Tempter. In the plain be- 
tween, all manner of men, the mean and the rich, are 



The Pro- 
logue to 
Piers 
the Plowman. 




Bakers and Cooks, a.d. 1338-1344 

From " Ms. Bodl. Misc. 264," in Green, Short History of the English People 



"working and wandering as the world asketh," unconscious 
of the influences that play upon them, moving them for 
evil or for good. Serfs toil at the plough, with rare intervals 
for pastime, painfully winning what their glutton lords will 
soon waste in revelry. Merchants buy and sell, making 
snug fortunes in thriving trade. Barons are here, and their 
bondsmen, burgesses and city rabble, side by side. All 
manner of artisans, men and women, ply their trades, bakers 
and brewers and butchers, tailors and tinkers, and weavers 
of woolen and linen cloth. These are thrifty craftsmen and 
well able to earn their own living ; but one sees others, 
lazy louts, good for nothing but spading and ditching, who 
while away the tedium of the day's labor with ribald songs. 



170 The Rise of the Commons 

Some there are who manage to live without work. These 
wander through the land singing gay glees in rich men's 
halls, or, feigning folly, earn many a good penny by tumbling 
and jesting. Stout beggars, too, with whining lies, entreat 
the alms that will be spent in drunken riot. Here and 
there in the motley throng run cooks and their serving boys 
crying, " Hot pies, hot ! Nice roast pigs and geese ! Come 
and dine, come ! " while taverners stand at the inn door 
calling out the merits of their choice drinks, the red wine 
of Gascony and the white wine of Alsace. Some, turning 
their backs upon such fleshly delights, give themselves to 
prayer and penance, hoping to " win heaven's bliss." A 
hundred or more sly fellows are hanging about, law ser- 
geants, " who plead a case for pence and pounds, never 
for love of our Lord." 

This picture of the world, as it looked to an honest priest, 
would be incomplete without the pious rout of monks and 
friars, pilgrims and palmers that go to Rome to do honor 
to the saints, and return with " leave to lie all their life 
after " ; wanton hermits, long-legged lubbers, who, being 
too lazy to work, wear the celibate's habit and live at their 
ease; friars in plenty — " all the four orders" — preaching 
to the people for their own profit, interpreting the Scriptures 
to suit their own purposes. In the midst stands a pardoner, 
armed with a papal bull, and professing to have power to 
absolve men from falsehoods and broken vows. The igno- 
rant people believe him and throng to his feet, bringing 
rings and brooches and hard-earned pennies to pay for the 
Pope's indulgence. Langland pours out the vials of his 
wrath upon the monks and friars. Toward the secular 
clergy he is somewhat less severe, but the parish priests are 
depicted as complaining that their people are too poor to 
support them and begging leave to go up to London, that 
they may win silver by singing masses for the rich in sculp- 
tured chantries. The superior clergy, too, desert their rural 
charges and flock to London with the rest, hoping for some 
fat office in the king's employ. 



The Popular Protest 1 71 

Langland's Vision was one of the most popular books of 
its day. Written in the rough vernacular, its alliterative 
verse caught the ear of the people and fixed itself in peas- 
ant memory. Reading was still a rare accomplishment, but 
this poet of democracy had disciples and interpreters who 
carried his message far and wide. Gathered about a tavern 
table or lounging on the village green, the group of rustics 
listened while some gaunt clerk of Oxford read the story of 
the humble Plowman, the Christ returned to earth, who so 
gently teaches knight and cleric their duty, guiding wander- 
ing pilgrims to the well-nigh forgotten shrine of Truth. The 
seed so sown bore fruit in the Lollard movement and in the 
Peasant Revolt. 

Wealth and Corruption of the Church. — This is the de- 
generate period of the English Church. Wealth and power 
had so far contaminated the upper ranks of the hierarchy 
that the superior clergy regarded themselves as privileged 
recipients of the contributions of the faithful, rather than 
as the servants of the Church of Christ. The ambitious 
and the lazy found holy orders much to their liking, and 
crowded into the Church and the monastic establishments 
until they far outnumbered the religious requirements of the 
nation. Their maintenance imposed a heavy burden on the 
resources of the country. The Church held fully one-third 
of the landed property in England, while the income from 
the offerings of the people amounted to twice the royal rev- 
enue. Great ecclesiastics like Wykeham, Bishop of Win- 
chester, used the diocesan revenues to build magnificent 
additions to their cathedrals. The beautiful churches they 
erected contributed more to the cause of art than to that 
of religion, since the cost was paid by a grudging people. 

The Popular Protest. — The influence of the Church over Green, 
the minds and hearts of the people was not strong enough PP- 2 5 2 - 2 53- 
to enable the clergy to withstand the protest raised by 
the awakened thought of England. Chaucer's polished 
sarcasm and Langland's fierce denunciation were echoed by 
many lesser observers. Jests and gibes against the clergy 



172 



The Rise of the Commons 



Trevelyan, 
ch. IV, V. 



Traill, II, 
157-160. 



The 
Babylonish 

captivity. 



found ready listeners in the hut of the peasant and at the 
court of the king. Yet the spirit of religion was not dead 
in England. Men knew and loved righteousness and pure 
devotion. " When all treasures are tested, Truth is the best," 
says Langland in the person of Holy Church, and Chaucer 
reverences the good priest who practised even better than 
he preached. 

Protest against the pretensions of the Church found ex- 
pression in deed as well as in word. Schools for secular 
education were opened at Oxford and Cambridge. More 
colleges than monasteries were founded, more hospitals than 
friaries. 1 A series of parliamentary enactments undertook 
to restrain the power of the Pope and to check the worldly 
ambitions of the English clergy. The Statute of Praemunire 
(1353) forbade the reception or execution of bulls from the 
Pope, together with any appeal from English tribunals to the 
papal court. The Statute of Provisors (1351) denied to the 
Pope the right of appointing foreigners to English benefices. 
In 1366, the tribute of one thousand marks, which John had 
promised to the Holy See, but which had not been paid for 
thirty years, was refused once for all. The Good Parliament 
protested against other papal exactions. " The Pope's reve- 
nue from England alone is larger than that of any prince in 
Christendom. 2 God gave his sheep to be pastured, not to 
be shaven and shorn." In 1377 was mooted the question 
whether, in view of the impoverished state of the country, 
Peter's pence might not properly be withheld. Such bold 
defiance of the Holy See was justified in the minds of con- 
temporary Englishmen by the degenerate state of the Pa- 
pacy. These are the years (1309-13 7 7) of the " Babylonish 
captivity." The Popes dwelt in exile at Avignon, an iso- 
lated bit of papal domain which lay so near the territo- 
ries of the king of France that it could hardly escape 
his influence. The English people scoffed at " the French 

1 There were 78 colleges and 192 hospitals founded in England during 
the fourteenth century, but only 64 monasteries. 

2 20,000 marks a year were sent to the papal treasury. 



Wiclif and the Reform Movement 



173 



Pope " and suspected him of being but a puppet in the 
hands of their foe. In 1378 began the Great Schism; 
and for fifty years thereafter the rival Popes of Rome and 
Avignon contested the powers and privileges of the Holy 
See. This unholy dissension further alienated the loyalty 
of thinking men, till it became evident that reform could 




Wiclif 



not long be delayed. The attack on the English clergy 
was led by John of Gaunt. The political honors of the 
great churchmen were intolerable to this ambitious prince, 
and he set about curbing their pretensions. A statute passed 
in 1 37 1 declared the clergy disqualified for civil office, 
and a tax was levied on Church lands acquired since 1292. 
Wiclif and the Reform Movement. — On the part of 
Lancaster and the lords, this assault on the power and 
wealth of the Church was not disinterested, but they found 



74 



The Rise of the Commons 



Green, 

PP- 235. 2 3 6 . 
238-244. 

Traill, II, 
160-172. 



a champion whose single-hearted zeal for reform cannot be 
called in question. John Wiclif, the first great protestant, 
was a learned doctor of Oxford, whose fame had secured 
him the honorable post of chaplain to the king. His views on 
the relation of Church and State had attracted the attention 
of John of Gaunt, and this crafty politician had bestowed 
upon him the doubtful favor of his patronage. Wiclif 
had ably seconded the endeavor of Parliament to restrict 
the privileges of the Pope and the English clergy, arguing 
that such power and wealth were inconsistent with the 
teachings of Christ. The essential feature of Wiclifs 
reform was the endeavor to recall the Church to Apostolic 
Christianity. Since God had revealed Himself as the Re- 
deemer of men, each human soul might have access to the 
divine life and was responsible to God alone. The media- 
tion of the priest was unnecessary, and the ecclesiastical 
hierarchy with its pride and its greed for power was a 
fungous growth upon the Church of Christ. The claim of 
a sinful man to act as vicegerent of Christ was blasphemous. 
No authority could be legitimate that was not sanctioned 
by God. Ruler and priest alike held of him. Obedience 
need not be rendered nor tribute paid to an unrighteous 
lord, though he were the king himself. 

The Opposition. — Such doctrines quickly called down 
upon Wiclif the condemnation of the ecclesiastical authori- 
ties. The friars raised the first cry of alarm. Their 
bigotry and immorality : had excited the indignation of 
Wiclif, and they writhed under many a scathing denuncia- 
tion at his hands. Now his bold utterances against the 
papal supremacy gave them opportunity for revenge. 
Courtenay, Bishop of London, the champion of clerical 
privilege and the sworn foe of John of Gaunt, summoned 
Wiclif to defend himself against the charge of heresy. 
Lancaster maintained his cause, and the citizens of London 
made a demonstration in his behalf; but the accusation 
was renewed, and he was finally condemned (1382) by a 
synod of the clergy. 



The Opposition 



175 



The last eight years of Wiclif's life were overshadowed 
by persecution so persistent, so formidable, that a feebler 
spirit would have quailed before it ; but he maintained un- 
daunted confidence in God and in the truth as he saw 
it. The faith he defended grew clearer while he argued. 
Pardons, indulgences, pilgrimages, were one after another 
declared of no avail. The climax was reached when he 
boldly denied the doctrine of transubstantiation, the corner 
stone of priestly authority. At this his friends wavered. 




Preaching in the Open Air, a.d. 1338-1344 

" Ms. Bodl. Misc. 264," in Green, Short History of the English People 



John of Gaunt protested and withdrew his support. The 
Peasant Revolt, which broke out at this inopportune mo- 
ment, was attributed to Wiclif's subversive doctrines. The 
condemnation of the Church Council was at last accepted 
by the Oxford schoolmen who had championed his cause, 
and the great teacher was obliged to withdraw to his 
parish church at Lutterworth. Here, as if despairing to 
accomplish reform by the aid of princes and learned men, 
he devoted his energies to translating the Bible into the Traill, II, 
speech of the people and to training disciples — his " poor pp- 222-224. 
priests" — who should perpetuate his message. In 1384 
he was summoned to Rome to defend his doctrines 



1 7 6 



The Rise of the Commons 



Green, 

pp. 259, 260. 



Trevelyan, 
ch.VIII, IX. 



Statute 
against 
preachers of 
heresy (1382) 
not assented 
to by the 
House of 
Commons. 



Traill, II, 
153 ; cf. 290. 



before the Pope, but a stroke of paralysis rendered the 
journey a physical impossibility. Condemnation was inevi- 
table. Wiclif died before the Pope's anathema could reach 
him, but his doctrine was denounced as heresy and his writ- 
ings were condemned to be burned. 

The Lollards. — Not so, however, was the work of the great 
reformer undone. The students of Oxford cherished his 
memory and the people secretly revered the valiant advo- 
cate of the rights of man against iniquitous privilege. His 
" poor priests " became most zealous evangelists. They are 
described in a contemporary statute as " going from county 
to county and from town to town in certain habits, under 
dissimulation of great holiness, preaching daily, not only in 
churches and churchyards, but also in markets, fairs, and 
other open places where a great congregation of people is." 
The writings burned in accordance with papal decree were 
reproduced with marvellous rapidity, and copies of Wiclif's 
Bible were furtively read in the homes of the nobility, in 
the court of the king. 1 Knighton says, doubtless with 
some exaggeration, that every second man one met was a 
Wiclifite. 

Industrial Progress. — A reform movement of greater 
immediate result than that of Wiclif and the Lollards was 
agitating the people during this vital century. The laboring 
population — the ignored nine-tenths of the nation — were 
waking to self-consciousness and striving to free themselves 
from the fetters of feudal dependence. This upward move- 
ment had its origin in the industrial prosperity of the period. 
England was sufficiently removed from the imbroglios of 
the Continent to escape the devastating wars that checked 
productive enterprise abroad. The quarrels in which the 
country was involved by the ambitious projects of her kings 
were fortunately fought out on foreign soil. They did not 
directly interfere with England's industrial development. In 



l Anne of Bohemia, the first queen of Richard II, possessed a copy of 
Wiclif's Bible. Through her the works of the English reformer found their 
way to Bohemia and there inspired the ill-fated protest of Huss and Jerome. 



Industrial Progress 



■77 



the reign of Edward III an effort was made to advance Traill, II, 
commercial interests, with a view to developing the tax- P p - IOO_I °7- 
paying power of the kingdom. Foreign merchants were ham.pp! 
admitted to full trade privileges within the realm and, when 74-78. 
they encountered the jealous opposition of the English 
traders, were taken under the special protection of the king. 
Manufactures, moreover, were systematically encouraged. 
England had been, hitherto, an agricultural country, and 
the wool cut from the backs of English sheep had been 
sent to Flanders to be woven and dyed. Only the coarsest 
cloths were manufactured at home, for skill and implements 




Spinning with a Distaff, early Fourteenth Century 

" Ms. Roy. 2 B vii," in Green, Short History of the English People 



were still of the rudest. With a view to developing this 

"infant industry," Edward III offered asylum to Flemish TheFlemish 

artisans, who, driven from their own land by civil strife, wea vers. 

gladly availed themselves of the royal favor. They settled 

in London, Norwich, and the eastern counties, and gradually 

taught English workmen better methods of weaving. The 

same policy was carried out in this and later centuries by 



i 7 8 



The Rise of the Commons 



Green, 

pp. 213-220. 



heavy duties imposed on the importation of foreign cloths 
and the exportation of wool. 

The Artisans. — The development of the woolen industry 
was accompanied by a marked increase in the numbers, 
wealth, and influence of the artisan class. The mediaeval 
workman occupied a very different position from that of the 
modern factory operative. Machinery had not yet super- 
seded skill, and labor, not capital, was the essential factor in 
industry. The artisan was trained for his craft by seven 
years' apprenticeship, and might spend several years more 
in the trade as a journeyman laborer before his training was 




Traill, II, 

109-114. 

Craftgilds. 



Wheel, early Fourteenth Cent 

" Ms. Roy. 10 E iv," in Green, Short History of the English People 

regarded as complete. The fully accredited workman, who 
had saved enough money to buy an outfit and hire a shop, 
could set up for himself as a master craftsman. As such, 
he bought his raw material, made it up with as much ex- 
cellence and beauty as his skill allowed, and placed the 
finished article in his own shop window for sale. With the 
increase of means, he added to the number of his looms 
and hired journeymen or took on apprentices as they were 
needed. He was capitalist, employer, and workman com- 
bined. Artisans following the same craft soon saw the ad- 
vantage of uniting for the furtherance of their common 
interests. Artisan associations were formed in every town 
where there was a considerable body of men engaged in the 
same trade, and were called " craftgilds " or " fellowships." 



The Artisans 



79 



Several such gilds trace their origin back to the twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries, but the political and economic condi- 
tions of the period under consideration were especially favor- 
able to the extension of the system. By the close of the 
fourteenth century there was hardly a trade or occupation 
that was not so organized. 1 




Iron Workers, a.d. 1338-1344 

"Ms. Bodl. Misc. 264," in Green, Short History 0/ the English People 

A monopoly of its particular industry was accorded to Cunning- 
the gild, and it was held responsible by the town authori- harn ' 
ties for the honest conduct of that trade. Fraudulent sales, 
dishonest or bungling workmanship, were punished by fine 
or withdrawal of the gild privileges. Unruly members were 
tried by the officers of the gild, and then handed over to 
the town authorities for punishment. The craft, no less 
than the merchant gild, undertook the relief of sick or 
disabled members. Hospitals were provided and charita- 
ble funds, from which accidental losses might be made 
good, and widows and orphans pensioned. These artisan 
associations acquired wealth and influence hardly inferior 

1 There were some eighty chartered craftgilds in London. Twelve of 
these still exist, viz. : Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, 
Skinners, Merchant-Taylors, Haberdashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, 
and Cloth-makers. 



[8o 



The Rise of the Commons 



Traill, II, 
92-100. 



Green, 

pp. 260-262. 



to that of the older trade gilds. They won coordinate 
part in the town government and in the election of the 
two burgesses who represented the interests of the munici- 
pality in Parliament. 

The Agricultural Population. — In manor as well as in 
town, new forces were coming into action, and the restricted 
conditions of mediaeval life were giving way before the aug- 
menting prosperity of the people. The serf population, 
ignored and despised by lord and townsman alike, with no 
voice in the shire or national government and no recourse 
against oppression, was waking to a sense of its wrongs, 
making ready to assert its right* to " life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness." Here, as in the town community, 
economic influences were at work which, by bettering the 
material condition of the people, inspired them with courage 
to demand freedom. Throughout the fourteenth century 
there was a general and increasing tendency to commute 
labor service for money. Just as the king had been ready 
to convert military service into scutage, so the lord found 
it convenient to receive a payment of silver in lieu of 
the labor hitherto extorted with difficulty from the reluc- 
tant cultivators of his manor lands. Wherever this was ac- 
complished, the demesne was tilled by hired laborers, and 
the proprietors in the common field were left free to care 
for their own holdings, still paying rent in money and 
produce. The thrifty serf was now in a fair way to become 
a small peasant owner, while his less industrious or less 
fortunate fellow might lose his claim to the land and drift 
into the class of free laborers. In any case a long stride 
was taken toward complete emancipation when a man was 
once rid of the old degrading services. 

Effects of the Black Death. — From two great disasters 
of the century, the famine (1313 and 1315) and the Black 
Death, the working classes reaped an incidental advantage. 
The falling off in the number of laborers, especially after the 
Death, occasioned a demand for higher wages, which bailiffs 
were forced to pay or to leave the fields untilled. On 



Effects of the Black Death 181 

many estates cultivation of the demesne lands was aban- 
doned. The consequent scarcity of provisions brought 
about a general rise in the price of food. 

Alarmed by the insistent demands of their former bond- Green, 
men, the landlords appealed to the king, who, without waiting PP- 262_26 4- 
to convene Parliament, issued an ordinance decreeing that 
the former rate of wages should be enforced. " Because a 
great part of the people and especially of the workmen 
have lately died of the pestilence, many, seeing the necessity 
of masters and the great scarcity of servants, will not serve 
unless they may receive excessive wages," and considering 
the " grievous incommodities " which from the lack " espe- 
cially of plowmen and such laborers may hereafter come," 
" the king ordains that every man and woman of whatso- 
ever condition he be, bond or free, able in body and within 
the age of three-score years, not living in merchandise, not 
exercising any craft, nor having property of his own whereof 
he may live, nor land of his own to till," shall be bound to 
serve the lord who shall require his labor and to take only 
such wages as were customarily in his parish before the 
Pestilence. Laborers refusing to work on these terms were 
liable to imprisonment, and masters offering more than the 
legal rate of wages should forfeit double the sum so paid. 
The artificers and workmen of the towns were made subject 
to like restrictions and penalties. The ordinance was ap- 
proved by Parliament 1 (135 1), and ten statutes to the same Statute of 
import were enacted within the next fifty years, each impos- Laborers - 
ing heavier penalties than the last, but in vain. Wages rose Traill, II, 
steadily from an average of threepence a day, in the begin- 137-146- 
ning of the century, to sixpence at its close. The several 
Statutes of Laborers were so many attempts to dam an in- 
coming tide. The workmen had the vantage-ground, and were 
able to enforce their claims. There is evidence to show that 
they combined to resist any return to the old rates, forming 
organizations quite comparable to the modern trades-unions. 
Violent outbreaks were not infrequent. The employing class 
1 The same statute regulated the prices of provisions. 



182 



The Rise of the Commons 



Trevelyan, 
ch. VI. 
Green, 
PP- 251-25, 



Traill, II, 
242-245. 



took alarm, and being all-influential in Parliament, passed, 
in 1360, the statute against " covin and conspiracy," which 
declared alliances of workmen against their masters illegal. 

The Peasants' Revolt. — Legislation could not, however, 
prevent combination among laborers. Secret associations 
were formed, with recognized leaders and pass-words. It is 
probable that the more radical of the Lollard priests aided 
the movement and served as messengers between the different 
sections of the country. Wiclif's saying, that obedience was 
not due to an unrighteous lord, was interpreted as justifying 
revolt. Matters came to a crisis in 138 1, when the people 
rose in insurrection. Adequate cause for the rising may be 
found in the discontent of the hired, laborers and the pro- 
tests of the villeins against the ignoble services still exacted 
by their lords ; but the immediate occasion was the imposi- 
tion of the poll tax in 1380. An attempt had been made to 
distribute the burden according to wealth and station ; the 
rich merchant or landowner was to pay sixty groats, 1 the 
poorest workman no less than one. For every child above 
fifteen years the tax was enacted. This was far more just 
than previous levies, but to the aggrieved peasant the tax 
was exorbitant, and its ruthless collection seemed the last un- 
endurable grievance. The revolt broke out simultaneously 
in Kent, Essex, and Hertfordshire, and spread with mar- 
vellous rapidity into all the southeastern counties. There 
were similar risings in districts as remote as York and Lan- 
cashire and Devon. All accounts of the insurrection are 
written from the view- point of the landowner or the eccle- 
siastic, and it is consistently represented as a wicked rebel- 
lion against the constituted authorities of Church and State. 

The insurgents first attacked the manor houses and did 
considerable damage, being bent on destroying the court- 
rolls which recorded the ancient servile dues. Then they 
set out for London, marching in scattered detachments, 
village by village. Their leader, Wat Tyler, whom Froissart 
describes as " a bad man and a great enemy to the nobility," 

1 The groat was a coin worth ^d. , or nearly 4J. in money of to-day. 



The Peasants Revolt 183 

had learned something of generalship in the French wars. Froissart's 
Arrived at London, a rabble of about one hundred thousand account - 
men, not one in twenty armed, they found the gates closed 
and the government prepared for resistance. The common 
people of London, however, sympathized with the revolt. 
In response to their protests, the gates were opened and 
the insurgents entered the city. Some violence was inevi- 
table. Savoy Palace, the residence of John of Gaunt, was 
burned. The archbishop of Canterbury, who, as king's 
chancellor, had proposed the poll tax, was beheaded, to- 
gether with many lawyers and some unfortunate Flemings 
and Lombards. Meanwhile, the king and his counsellors, 
safely ensconced in the Tower, debated what might be 
done. Should they gather the nobles and their retainers, 
and, falling upon the rebels in the night, kill them "like 
flies"? This they dared not do for fear of the sympathetic 
populace. It was determined to treat with the enemy, and 
the king sent orders that the insurgents should retire to "a 
handsome meadow at Mile-end, 1 where, in the summer, people 
go to amuse themselves." Arrived at the place, the young 
king rode forward bravely enough, saying : " My good peo- 
ple, I am your king and your lord ; what is it that you want, 
and what do you wish to say to me?" Those who heard 
him answered: "We wish thou wouldst make us free for- 
ever, us, our heirs, and our lands, and that we should be no 
longer called slaves nor held in bondage." The king re- 
plied : " I grant your wish ; now, therefore, return to your 
homes, leaving two or three men from each village .... to 
whom I will order letters to be given, sealed with my seal 
.... with every demand you have made fully granted." 
Thirty secretaries were immediately set to work to draw up 
the charters o'f manumission, and the greater part of the 
people departed for their homes, saying: "It is well said; 
we do not wish for more." Then the king's party threw off 
the mask of courtesy and good humor. Wat Tyler was 
foully murdered. Jack Straw, John Ball, and other ring- 

iThis is now one of the most densely populated districts of London. 



184 The Rise of the Commons 

leaders were seized and executed without form of trial ; 
many serfs suffered death at the hands of their outraged 
masters. The* villeins had no resource, since the land- 
owners were all-influential in both houses of Parliament. 
The charters of manumission were revoked on the ground 
that they were granted by " compulsion, duress, and men- 
ace," and an act of pardon was passed, exempting from 
blame and pardon any lords and gentlemen who, in the 
emergency, had taken the law into their own hands and in- 
flicted bodily injury on their bondmen. 
Cunning- So were the people outwitted and the insurrection crushed 

in blood. The dominant classes proved too strong to be 
withstood. It is quite probable that fear of another rising 
induced many a lord to abate his claims, but he would still 
enforce what he could, and in remote districts of England 
serf-labor persisted into the sixteenth century. 1 The event- 
ual emancipation of the serfs was due, not to insurrection or 
legislation, but to a change in industrial conditions that ren- 
dered serf-labor no longer profitable. 




Specimen of Early Cannon 
Genealogical Table 

Henry III 

! 

I 1 

Edward I, 1274-1307 Edmund, 

I I Earl of Lancaster 

Edward II, 1307-1327 Thomas, 

Earl of Lancaster 
Edward III, 1327-1377 beheaded 1322 
J 

Edward, the Black Lionel, Duke John of Gaunt, Edmund, Thomas, 

Prince of Clarence Duke of Lancaster Duke of York Duke of 

I I I Gloucester 
Richard II, 1377-1399 Philippa Henry IV, 1399-1413 

1 Queen Elizabeth enfranchised the bondmen on the royal estates in 1574. 



Important Events 185 



Important Events 
Reign of Edward II, 1307-1327. 

The Ordinances, 13 11. 
Battle of Bannockburn, 1314. 
Downfall of Lancaster, 1322. 
Deposition of the king, 1327. 

Reign of Edward III, 1327-1377. 

The French Wars, 1336-1347, 1354-1360, 1368-1375. 
The Black Death, 1349, 1361, 1369. 
The Good Parliament, 1376. 

Reign of Richard II, 1377-1399. 

The French Wars, 1378-1389. 
The Peasant Revolt, 1381. 
The death of Wiclif, 1384. 
The Merciless Parliament, 1388. 
Richard assumes the government, 1389. 
The king's coup (fit at, 1397. 
Deposition of the king, 1399. 



1 86 The Rise of the Commons 



5 



~ 



i-i o 



qS > & c± & h Q £ o fe 



> 






9 3 



Ij 



S 



.CHAPTER VII 

DYNASTIC WARS 
Books for Consultation 



Walsingham, Historia Anglicana. 

Elham, Memorials of Henry the Fifth. 

Sir Thomas More, Edward V. 

The Paston Letters. 

Wright, Political Poems and Songs from Edward III to Richard II 

Edith Thompson, The Wars of York anil Lancaster. 

Special Authorities 

Hasted, Life of Richard ILL. 

Lowell, foan of Arc. 

Green, Town Life in Fifteenth Century. 

Oman, Warwick; England and the Hundred Years' War. 

Oman, Political History of England, Vol. IV, ch. VI-XX. 

Edwards, England from ijjj-ijSj;. 

Denton, The Fifteenth Century. 

Imaginative Literature 

Shakespeare, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Richard ILL 
Lord Lytton, The Last of the Barons. 

Characteristics of the Epoch. — The fair promise of the 
fourteenth century was destined to fail of fulfilment. The 
hopes and aspirations awakened in the good times of 
Edward III. were undone by the great calamities which fell 
upon the land in the reign of his successor. War, pesti- 
lence, and famine wrought their hideous work, sapping the 
energies that should have gone into progress and expansion. 
The forward movement toward political, religious, and in- 
dustrial freedom proved premature and abortive. In the 
187 



1 88 Dynastic Wars 

fifteenth century the best achievements of the preceding 
age were rendered void. Degeneration and decay charac- 
terized every aspect of the national life. Politics dwindled 
into mere strife of faction, worship passed into formalism, 
the literary impulse ebbed, and social relations became 
demoralized even to brutality. 
Bright, I, Henry IV (1399-1413). — The first Lancastrian came to 

2 7S. 2 7 6 - t ne throne pledged to respect the constitutional rights of 

the nation. His usurpation was a protest against the mis- 
government of Richard II, and success was achieved by 
the support of the Lords Appellant. At his coronation, he 
confirmed the ancient laws and charters, and promised to 
govern, not according to his own arbitrary pleasure but by 
advice of the estates assembled in Parliament, and loyally 
did the king keep his word. Constitutional forms were 
scrupulously observed. Taxes were levied and laws were 
passed in accordance with legal requirements. The Com- 
mons attained an influence in legislation equal to that of 
the Upper House, and the right of the people's representa- 
tives to a voice in all matters of national interest was fully 
conceded. 
Traill, ii, Henry IV held the crown by the will of the nation, not 

277-288. ky hereditary right. This was the secret of his deference 

to Parliament. This, too, was the reason for his weak 
compliance to less legitimate demands. The king was 
forced to make terms with factions in the State, and 
never summoned courage to overrule them. He was under 
heavy obligations to the great lords and prelates who had 
combined to depose Richard, and was fain to reward their 
zeal by rich booty in titles and estates. Arundel x was made 
Archbishop of Canterbury, while the Percies 2 and the Ne- 
villes 8 were given ample assurance of the king's favor. 
The pensions granted in the first year of the reign amounted 
to more than the king's total income. The consequent 

1 Brother of the Lord Appellant of that name. 

2 The great family of Northumberland. 
8 The great family of Westmoreland. 



Insurrection 1 89 

requests for additional taxes soon quenched the loyalty 
called forth by Henry's regard for constitutional forms. 

Statute against Heretics. — The king's account with the 
Church was settled by prompt legislation against Lollardry. 
Previous measures of repression had been ineffective. The Traill, II, 
doctrine of Wiclif was preached through the length and 28 7~ 2 93- 
breadth of the land, and the reformed faith was being 
accepted not only by peasants and artisans, but by learned 
doctors and court nobility. The clergy, in alarm, appealed 
to the king to reenforce the ecclesiastical sentence by civil 
penalty. Henry had inherited nothing of his father's quar- 
rel with the Church, and saw in the Lollards only dangerous Green, 
adherents of Richard. He readily lent his influence to the PP- 26 5- 26 7- 
petition which resulted in the first act against heresy in- 
scribed among English statutes (1401). The confirmed 
heretic was to be burned to ashes in some high place before 
the eyes of the people, in order to strike fear to the hearts 
of any who might be wavering in the faith. Legislation 
restricting the privileges of the clergy would have been 
more popular. When, however, the Commons petitioned 
that the wealth of the Church should be confiscated to the 
uses of the State, the king sent answer that " from thence- 
forth they should not presume to study about any such 
matters." 

Insurrection. — Not all these efforts to conciliate the Bright, I, 
influential classes could guard the new-made king against 277 ~ 2 2 ' 
rebellion. Richard's friends soon gathered courage to 
assert his right to the throne. The unhappy prince was 
secretly murdered the year after his deposition, but his 
partisans would not believe he was dead. Rumors that 
Richard was alive, that he had been seen in Scotland, that 
he was rallying his forces at Chester, were rife in the land. 
A pretender found eager champions at the Scottish court, 
where Henry's reassertion of overlordship had revived all 
the old hostility to England. The traditional feud found Border raids, 
vent in a series of Border raids which came to nothing, but 
the English had the good fortune to get possession of young 



190 



Dynastic Wars 



Traill, II, 
282-287. 



Glendower's 
rebellion. 



Prince James, the heir-apparent (1405), and kept him twenty 
years a prisoner as hostage for the good behavior of the 
Scots. 

The weakness of Henry's administration and the conse- 
quent misrule of the Lord Marchers occasioned revolt in the 
west. Under Owen Glendower, a patriotic gentleman and 
a former squire of Richard, the Welsh maintained for fif- 
teen years (1400-1415) a practical independence. In 
1403, the Percies, whose allegiance the king had thought 
secure, proclaimed Mortimer, Earl of March, 1 rightful heir 
to the throne. Northumberland rose at their call, the in- 
surgent Welsh and Scotch joined forces with them, and 
though young Hotspur fell in battle, and his fellow-con- 
spirator, Scrope, Archbishop of York, was beheaded by 
order of the king's justices, it was years before the revolt 
could be suppressed. Across the Channel, too, the foes of 

1 The rival dynasties : — 

Edward III 

I 



Gaunt 
I 

I 



Philippa 



inche of Lancaster, 
I 
Henry IV, 
1399-1413 

Henry V, 
1413-1422 

I 
Henry VI, 
1422-1471 

Edward, 

slain at 

Tewkesbury, 

1471 



By Katherine Swynford 
(illegitimate) 

I 
John Beaufort, 
Earl of Somerset 

John Beaufort, 
Duke of Somerset 

P 
Margaret Beaufort, 
m. Edmund Tudor, 
Earl of Richmond 

Henry VII, 
1485-1509 



York 



Richard, 

Earl of Cambridge, 

m. Anne Mortimer, 

beheaded, 1415 

Richard. 
Duke of York, 

slain at 
Wakefield, 1460 



Edmund Mortimer, 

Earl of March, 

died, 1424 



Anne Mortimer 



Edward IV, 
1461-1483 



Elizabeth, 
m. Henry VII 



I I 

Edward V, Rich; 
murdered, 
1483 



George, 

Duke of Clarence, 

murdered, 1478 

I 



Edward, _ 

Earl of Warwick, 

beheaded, 1499 



Margaret, 

beheaded, 

1541 



1 

Richard III, Duke 

of Gloucester, 

1483-1485, 

slain at 

Bosworth, 

148S 

Edward, died, 
1484 



The French War 19 1 

England were astir. The king of France, whose daughter 
was Richard's queen, protested against Henry's usurpation, 
and sent aid to the Welsh insurgents. The Gascon cities 
that had remained loyal to the English mistrusted the new 
dynasty and lent ear to overtures from France. 

One by one all dangers were averted, all enemies out- 
witted, reconciled, or destroyed, and the realm won over 
to the house of Lancaster. But the task wore out the king's 
life. Haunted by secret doubts as to his right to the crown, 
weighed down by a disease which his superstitious con- 
temporaries believed to be the judgment of God, he grew 
jealous and suspicious, fearing to be displaced in his turn 
by the popular heir-apparent. " He reigned thirteen years," 
says Holinshed, "with great perplexity and little pleasure," 
but he left a well-founded inheritance to his son. 

Henry V (1413-1422). — The second Lancaster was a 
man of different temper. Able, upright, and generous, a 
brilliant warrior and a popular ruler, he was the best king 
of his line. Prince Hal, the gay and mischievous youth 
whom Shakespeare depicts as Falstaff's boon companion, 
was suddenly sobered by the responsibility of kingship. 
"He was changed into another man," says Walsingham, 
"studying to be honest, grave, and modest." Disturbing 
questions as to dynastic right died into silence before the 
popularity of the brave, self-confident young king. The 
Earl of March was received into royal favor, and the con- 
spiracy undertaken in his name by his brother-in-law, the 
Earl of Cambridge, was readily brought to naught. 

The king's championship of orthodoxy doubtless added 
greatly to the security of his administration. The statute 
against heretics was reenacted in 14 14, and a formidable Traill, II, 
rising under Sir John Oldcastle was quashed by Henry's 2 93- 
prompt interference. The leaders were put to death and 
the movement so discredited that Lollardry never again Lollard plot 
figured as a menace to the established order. Religious 
discontent smouldered in secret until the Reformation. 

The French War. — The renewal of the French war was 



The French War 193 

another popular measure. Henry's claim to the French 
throne was slighter than that of Edward III and had even 
less chance of success; but its assertion was eagerly ap- 
plauded by Englishmen of the day. The war with France Green, 
had become a national feud that must be prosecuted with- pp- 26 7-27o. 
out regard to consequences. The barons welcomed the 
opportunity to win fame and plunder, while the clergy were 
glad to divert attention from a second proposal to confiscate 
ecclesiastical revenues by voting taxes for the French cam- 
paigns. The war, so cordially undertaken, was carried to 
a brilliant conclusion. The battle of Agincourt (1415) Agincourt, 
was a repetition of Crecy. Once again English yeomen I 4 I 5- 
overthrew the mailed knights of the French array with well- 3 ^L« ' 
directed shots from their long-bows, and once again the 
English army, invincible in battle, was destroyed by famine 
and disease. Good fortune, rather than valor, gave Henry 
the ultimate victory. France was demoralized by civil 
strife. The king, Charles VI, was imbecile, and the king- 
dom was divided between hostile factions. The cities were 
reduced to anarchic misrule, while the country lay waste 
and desolate. A land so distraught was not difficult to 
bring to terms. In 1420 the treaty of Troyes was concluded. Treaty of 
Princess Catherine was given to the king in marriage, the Tr °y es » 
rights of the Dauphin were set aside, and it was agreed 
that Henry was to succeed to the throne on the death of 
Charles VI. 

The next year the king came home, accompanied by his 
fair French bride. He was joyfully greeted by a people 
intoxicated with triumph, but a sinister fate awaited him. 
Returning to France the same year to pursue the conquest of 
the south, he fell ill and died only two months before the 
mad monarch whose crown he expected to inherit. Henry V Traill, 1 1, 
had dreamed of reducing his French dominions, not merely 2 9 6 - 2 97- 
to submission, but to order and renewed prosperity, of car- 
rying the terror of the English name to the far East, of 
conquering the Turks and restoring the Holy Sepulchre to 
Christian keeping; but all these great projects came to 



194 



Dynastic Wars 



nothing, for the king was cut off in the first flush of 
success before his initial conquests could be secured. 

Henry VI (1422-1471). — England was undone by his 
death. The Prince of Wales was but nine months old, 
and the realm was exposed to all the difficulties and dangers 
of a long minority. Parliament vested sovereign authority 
in a council of regency, appointing the late king's brothers, 
the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester, to the government 



1.;'* 




• i 1 &M 
: v-4. 

TV 




r 


PHmi-e': 



Ludlow Castle 



of France and England respectively. Humphrey, Duke of 
Gloucester, was a vain, ambitious prince who did not hesi- 
tate to sacrifice the peace of the country to his own ad- 
vancement. He was soon engaged in a fierce quarrel with 
Bishop Beaufort, the chancellor and his rival in the gov- 
ernment. The feud, ceasing only with the death of the 
principals, occupied the first twenty-five years of this un- 



Loss of the French Possessions 



195 



happy reign, and involved the council, the court, and 
ultimately the dynasty in its fatal toils. 

Loss of the French Possessions. — Meanwhile, Bedford 
was spending his splendid energy and sorely needed wis- 
dom in the vain endeavor to retain the French conquests. 
The fortunes of France had touched lowest ebb in the treaty 
of Troyes. With the death of the mad king, courage re- 
vived, and loyal Frenchmen turned to the Dauphin as the 
hope of the nation. Awakened patriotism found expression 
in the self -forgetting zeal of Joan of Arc, the peasant girl 
of Domremi, who believed herself sent by God to restore 
the rightful king and inspired the dejected forces of the 
Dauphin with such enthusiasm as enabled them once more 
to win victories from the English. A besieging force was 
driven back from Orleans, the strong city of the loyal 
south; the Dauphin was carried to Rheims, and there 
triumphantly crowned in the heart of the enemy's country, 
while one after another the fortified cities were recovered 
from the English garrisons. Not even the capture and 
barbarous execution of the Maid of Orleans could daunt 
the waxing courage of the French, while the death of the 
Duke of Bedford removed the single element of strength 
in the English army. Paris was lost in 1436, and Eng- 
land's possessions in France rapidly narrowed down to the 
dominions of Henry II. 

At home, meanwhile, matters were going badly. The 
little king, a delicate but precocious child, was being care- 
fully educated, and he showed himself an apt and submis- 
sive pupil. In happier times he might have become a 
good, even a great, sovereign; but the storm and stress of 
civil strife forced upon him responsibilities far beyond his 
strength. He was crowned king of England when only 
seven years of age, and king of France at ten. Again and 
again, while still a mere child, he was called upon to medi- 
ate between the great barons of the council. The death 
of Bedford bereft him of his only wise and disinterested 
minister. The fragile body and overwrought brain of the 



Joan of Arc. 
Green, 



Traill, II, 
297-304. 

Source-Book, 
pp. 112, 113. 

Character of 
Henry VI. 

Source-Book, 
pp. 114-116. 



196 



Dynastic Wars 



Green, 
p. 280. 



boy king broke under the strain. He was still a young 
man when the curse of his house fell upon him and he be- 
came hopelessly incompetent. Pitiable was the condition of 

the kingdom. The 
people groaned under 
the burden of taxes 
imposed for the prose- 
cution of the French 
war. The heavy drafts 
required to fill up the 
ranks of the depleted 
army, coupled with 
frequent recurrences 
of the plague, had 
sensibly reduced the 
population. The 
strength of the nation 
was nearly exhausted, 
and yet Parliament was 
unwilling to treat for 
peace. Race pride 
revolted against a hu- 
miliating conclusion 
to the war so brilliantly begun, but the counsellors of the 
king, seeing that failure was inevitable, negotiated a truce. 
A marriage was arranged between the young king and a 
French princess, Margaret of Anjou, while Maine and An- 
jou were ceded (1448) as the price of peace. Normandy 
was lost in 1450, and the coast cities, Bordeaux and Ba- 
yonne, in 145 1. The remnant of Gascony thus passed into 
the hands of the French king, and Calais alone remained 
to England. 

Dynastic Difficulties. — With the close of the war, a crowd 
of disappointed knights and ragged soldiers returned from 
over-seas, seeking to better their desperate fortunes. They 
found the country well-nigh ruined, the king impotent, the 
queen generally hated because of the humiliating marriage 




Henry VI 

After the portrait in the National Portrait Gallery 



Dynastic Difficulties 197 

treaty, and the princes of the blood royal engaged in a 
desperate struggle for the control of the government. Ed- 
mund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, head of the illegitimate Green, 
branch of the Lancastrian house, had the confidence of the pp- 282_28 S- 
court and the queen; but he was unpopular with the people, 




' " IlllllflW . 

Suit of Full Armor. Middle of Fifteenth Century 

and was charged with every disaster at home and abroad. 
His. rival, Richard of York, had, on the contrary, proved Richard of 
himself an able ruler, both in France and in Ireland. He York - 
was uot only heir-apparent to the childless king, but, being 



198 



Dynastic Wars 



Traill, II, 
313, 3*4- 



descended through his mother, Anne Mortimer, from Lionel, 
Duke of Clarence, elder brother to John of Gaunt, he might 
advance a better claim to the throne than the reigning 
house. Distrusted by the queen's party and driven from 
court, his name was caught up by the malcontents as the 
guarantee of efficient government. Jack Cade, who incited 
the fruitless peasant insurrection in 1450, assumed the name 
of Mortimer. The " Complaint of the Commons of Kent " 
protested against the misgovernment of unworthy favorites, 
and demanded that the king recall to court "that high and 
mighty prince, the Duke of York." The Kentish rising, 
far from inducing the king to summon York to his council, 
only heightened the antagonism between that great lord 
and the court party. 

The Wars of the Roses. 1 — In 1453, Henry fell into a 
state of imbecility which endured, with brief intervals of 
sanity, through the remaining eighteen years of his life. 
The birth of Prince Edward in the same year gave an heir 
to the house of Lancaster. Relying on the support of 
powerful barons, notably the Earl of Warwick, York laid 
claim to the protectorate, and did not hesitate to maintain 
his right by force. Somerset was slain at St. Albans (1455), 
and Queen Margaret was left alone to defend the interests 
of her feeble husband and infant son. The queen was 
justly unpopular, since there was reason to believe that she 
was soliciting aid from France and Scotland against her 
English foes; nevertheless, she could count on the loyalty 
of the north and west. The Yorkist cause, on the other 
hand, was maintained in London and the rich and populous 
southeastern counties, whose commercial and industrial in- 
terests were dependent on efficient government. In 1459, 
the dynastic controversy so long smouldering broke into 
flame. Parliament, acting under the influence of the 
queen, attainted York and his principal supporters. They 
armed in self-defence, and the land was given over to civil 
war. Victory was at first with the Duke of York. At the 

1 The Lancastrians wore the red rose, the Yorkists the white. 



200 



Dynastic Wars 



battle of Northampton (1460) Henry VI was taken prisoner 
and York laid claim to the crown. A compromise was 
effected by the advocates of peace; Richard was to succeed 
Henry VI, the claim of Prince Edward being set aside. 

Queen Margaret, however, rejected the arrangement and 
fought like a lioness for the rights of her son. Richard fell 
at Wakefield, but his heir, young Edward of York, proved 
an even stronger leader. Getting possession of London by 
a swift and unexpected advance, he was proclaimed king 
by the citizens and crowned, before the sanction of Parlia- 
ment was obtained, by a group of partisan lords. The 
bloody battle of Towton Field (146 1) wrecked the hopes 
of the Lancastrians. The leading men of the party were 
slain, and the fierce queen was forced to flee to Scotland, 
carrying with her the husband and son for whom she 
waged this desperate contest. Thus was the work of 
1399 undone, and the act of deposition reversed. The 
coronation of Edward IV was a reassertion of hereditary 
right. 

Warwick, the King-maker. — The cause of the White 
Rose had been stanchly maintained by Richard Neville, 
Earl of Warwick, near kinsman to the house of York, and 
the most powerful lord in England. He held great estates 
in the midland counties and could gather an army of trusty 
vassals under his banner, the ragged staff. He was further 
so connected by blood and marriage with other great fami- 
lies that he could count on the support of the major part 
of the English nobility. It was said that half England 
would rise at his word. An able politician, a man of 
genial manners and wide sympathies, he won the steadfast 
confidence of the people. "He ever had the good voice 
of the people," says the chronicler, "because he gave them 
fair words, showing himself easy and familiar." He, far 
more than the Duke of York, fought in the interest of good 
government, and the victory of the White Rose was due in 
great part to the confidence he inspired. After the crown 
was won and Edward IV established at Westminster, War- 



Edivard IV 201 

wick was sent to guard the north country against the raids 
undertaken by Margaret and the Scots. It was no easy 
task. The indomitable queen stirred the discontent of 
Northumberland to revolt, and rising after rising was at- 
tempted, taxing the skill of Warwick to the utmost. 

Edward IV (1461-1483). — Meanwhile King Edward at 
London was pursuing his own pleasure as gayly as if his 
tenure of the throne was unchallenged. In 1464 he mar- Green, 
ried Lady Grey, rejecting the high-born brides proposed pp- 28 5~ 288 
by Warwick, and proceeded to bestow titles and offices 
upon her numerous relatives, the Woodvilles, with slight 
regard to the advice of his former counsellors. This in- 
difference gave umbrage to his supporters. The great 
lords who had fought his battles expected some reward. 
The people found the requisitions of the spendthrift king 
excessive, and murmured that Lancastrian feebleness "was 
no worse than the reckless misrule of a York." The re- 
bellious commons of Yorkshire, led by Robin of Redesdale, Traill, II, 
protested against burdensome taxation, the alienation of 3 X 5- 
the royal estates to upstart favorites, and the exclusion from 
the king's council of the princes of the blood. Warwick Alliance of 
began to repent him of his work and to plot with Margaret War w ick 
for the restoration of Henry. It required but the weight Margaret, 
of his influence on the Lancastrian side to turn the tables. 
A sharp reversal of fortune drove the over-confident Edward 
beyond seas and placed Henry VI on the throne. For five Source-Bnok 
months the frail old man held the sceptre in his feeble PP- i 2 5" 128 - 
grasp. He was but a shadow king; the real sovereign was 
the great Earl of Warwick. In the spring of 147 1, Edward 
returned to England, protesting that he had come in all 
loyalty to King Henry, to recover but his ancestral estates. 
Encountering no resistance from the apathetic people, he 
gathered courage and claimed the throne. His brilliant 
generalship stood him in good stead. In the battle of 
Barnet, April 14, Warwick was slain. At Tewkesbury, Barnet, 
May 4, Prince Edward, the hope of the Lancastrians, Tewksbury 
fell. Margaret was taken prisoner, and the frail old king, 



202 Dynastic Wars 

consigned to the Tower, died on the night of Edward's 
triumphant return to London. 

Political Results. — The house of Lancaster was finally 
ruined. Twenty years of civil strife had resulted in the 
triumph of the rival dynasty. It was not a constitutional 
struggle, like that led by Simon de Montfort, by Thomas 
Traill, II, of Lancaster, by the Lords Appellant. Henry IV and his 
309-311. successors had been most scrupulously observant of every 

parliamentary form. They had neither attempted arbitrary 
rule nor sought to enrich themselves and their favorites at 
the expense of the common weal. Their failure was in 
"want of governance." The dynasty had not struck deep 
root in the loyalty of the nation because it had furnished 
no able administrator. In the anarchy of the times Eng- 
land needed above all things a strong and efficient govern- 
ment which should protect the weak and restore order to 
the disorganized State. 
Green, The house of York did not meet this need. The govern- 

pp. 288-293. men t of Edward IV was arbitrary rather than strong. Since 
John, no king had sat on the English throne so abandoned 
to vicious pleasure, so lacking in the sense of responsibility 
for his people. Edward had a conspicuous talent for ex- 
tortion, and money was wrung from his helpless subjects 
by new and ingenious devices. Heavy fines were imposed 
for fictitious offences, and "benevolences" were demanded 
on such terms as made this form of contribution to the 
king's necessities even more vexatious than the forced loans 
of Richard II. No class escaped the royal exactions. 
"The rich," says a contemporary, "were hanged by the 
purse and the poor by the neck." Parliament was sum- 
moned at rare intervals, and its principal business was the 
voting of forfeitures and bills of attainder against the Lan- 
castrian lords. No reform legislation was attempted. 

Richard 111(1483-1485). — Edward's sudden death (1483) 
left the succession ill defended. His son, Prince Edward, 
was but thirteen years of age. The young king's uncle, 
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, deformed of body, brilliant 




Richard 111 

Painting in Winds 



State of the Country 203 

of intellect, and of all the house of York most cruel and 
selfish, the man to whom tradition attributes the worst crimes 
of this brutal age, had enjoyed the full trust of the late king. 
No sooner was Edward dead than Richard began to con- Green, 
spire for the throne. The Woodvilles were driven from p- 2 " - 
court, some into exile, some to the block, and Gloucester 
was elected protector of the realm. The wily duke took 
the oath of allegiance to his young nephew, but before 
Edward could be crowned, his right was set aside and 
Richard was invited by a partisan gathering of lords and 
clergy, acting in the name of the three estates, to assume 
the crown. The boy king and his little brother were 
probably murdered in the Tower. 

Richard III was a man of sinister genius — the least Traill, II, 
scrupulous of his unscrupulous race. The single Parliament 3 l8 ~3 2 °- 
of his reign passed a series of remedial statutes, and these 
have been cited as evidence that the last York was maligned Horace Wai- 
by his successors — that the real man might have become a P ole . Historic 
great sovereign. Since, however, the king did not hesitate ow ts ' 
to set at naught the most important of these statutes, — that 
declaring benevolences illegal, — he can hardly be regarded 
as the author of the reform movement. The two years of Green, 
his reign were spent in the vain endeavor to defeat a rival pp- 3 r 3. 3 J 4- 
to the succession, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, the Bosworth, 
last surviving heir of the house of Lancaster. At the I4 5 " 
decisive battle of Bosworth Field (1485), Richard was slain, 
and Henry was proclaimed king. 

State of the Country. — The misery of the people during Traill, 1 1, 
these years of civil strife was such as England had not 3". 3 12 - 
known since the evil days of Stephen. The land was laid 
waste by rival armies in pursuit of plunder or revenge. 
Crops were destroyed and cattle driven off, the very huts of 
the peasants were torn down and their owners left to naked 
beggary. Villages and towns were sacked and burned to 
the ground, and prosperous districts were reduced to smok- 
ing ruins. More men died of want than were slain in 
battle, and in many parts of the country the fields lay un- 



204 Dynastic Wars 

tilled. The price of wheat fluctuated with every harvest, 
but again and again during the century it rose to famine 
rates. Pestilence followed close upon famine. The chroni- 
clers record some twenty outbreaks of " the Death," with 
hardly a space of five years free. Not only was the growth 
of population checked, but the number of souls actually 
fell below what it was in the thirteenth century. Suffering 
and the failure of accustomed restraints demoralized the 
nation. Loyalty, honor, all sense of obligation, weakened 
in this age of social disintegration. Treachery, breach of 
faith, barbarous cruelty, characterized the party leaders. 
Their followers, not slow to imitate the evil example, robbed 
and murdered in their turn. 

The Privileged Orders. — The Church had well-nigh lost 
its influence for good. Their privileges once rendered 
secure by the suppression of the Lollards, the clergy felt 
little concern for the well-being of the people. Many prel- 
ates, younger sons of baronial families, took an active part 
in the civil strife, and proved themselves only a shade less 
faithless than their non-tonsured allies. For example, 
George Neville, Archbishop of York, betrayed London to 
King Edward (147 1) as the price of his personal safety. 
The aristocracy was decimated in the course of the 
Train, II, dynastic struggle. 1 Many old houses were extinguished, 
329-332. a u t h e men f the family having fallen in battle. Many 

more were impoverished. The wasteful expenses entailed 
in one hundred and twenty years of public and private war, 
and the cost of maintaining the splendid establishments re- 
quired by the fashion of the times, were a heavy charge, 
while the returns from landed property were diminishing. 
Wealth and influence were centred in a few great families. 
There were half a dozen peers whose power rivalled that of 
royalty itself. The Earl of Warwick boasted so large a fol- 
lowing that six oxen were daily slaughtered to provide his 

l The loss of life was heaviest among the nobility. At the battle of North- 
ampton, Warwick gave orders that none should slay the commoners, but only 
the lords, with whom lay the responsibility for the war. 



The Baronage 205 

breakfast table. The Duke of Buckingham's rental was es- 
timated at one hundred and eighty thousand pounds, in 
money of to-day, while in his great hall of Thornbury two 
hundred guests partook of his bounty. The Earl of Berke- 
ley was accompanied on his journeys by a retinue of one 
hundred and fifty retainers dressed in his livery. A baron's Traill, II, 
strength was measured by the number of followers he could 3 2 9~334- 




Source-Book, 



Raglan Castle 

From a photograph 

maintain. Such attendants were fed and clothed, armed 

and mounted, by their lord, and were entitled to a share in pp. 117. "8. 

the booty of war. In return for such " livery," 1 the man 

bound himself to espouse his lord's quarrels, to answer his 

summons, and to follow him to battle, at home or abroad. 

It was just such a relation of mutual service and protection 

as existed between the Saxon earl and his thegn. There 

1 Livery {liberatio) was originally the allowance in clothing and food 
provided for each retainer. 



206 Dynastic Wars 

was, in fact, in the disorganized state of society, a reversion 
to feudalism. Backed by their armed retainers, powerful 
nobles made war upon each other in pursuit of personal 
ends. Fierce feuds and private broils were of frequent oc- 
currence. 

There was no authority strong enough to cope with the 
turbulent gentry. Kings were but their creatures, and 
the courts of justice could not withstand their influence. 
A powerful noble had only to appear before the justice with 
several hundred henchmen at his back to secure the rever- 
sal of an unpalatable sentence. From Edward III to Henry 
VII this was a growing evil. No less than twelve statutes 
were enacted against the giving of liveries and the mainte- 
nance 1 of false quarrels; but legislation could effect nothing 
when there was no strong central authority to put the law 
into execution. In the ignoble strife for possession of the 
crown, the royal authority was discredited. The institutions 
of government, local as well as central, were demoralized, 
and the kingdom lapsed into anarchy. Parliament, for- 
merly the stanch defender of the people's liberties, had 
degenerated into the servile tool of dynastic faction. By 
neglecting to summon the hostile lords 2 and by skilfully 
manipulating county elections, the party in power could at 
any time convene an assembly that would ratify its measures 
of attainder and restitution. 

The People. — Bad as were the political and social con- 
ditions of the age, there was still room for considerable 
industrial progress. The citizens of the towns and the lesser 
folk of the country had little to do with the civil wars. Yeo- 
men and all below the rank of squire were forbidden by law 
to don a livery or to follow a lord to battle, while participa- 
tion in the county elections was limited to persons possessed 
of land worth forty shillings a year. 3 

1 "Maintenance" was the support given by lord to client whether in a 
private quarrel or in the courts of justice. 

2 But twenty-nine barons were summoned to the first Parliament of 
Henry VII. 

3 This statute was enacted in 1430 in consequence of tumults made in the 



The People 207 

The process of commuting personal for money service was 
virtually accomplished in the course of the fifteenth century, 
and the major part of the former serfs became copyhold ten- 
ants. The demesne lands were rented on easy terms by ne- 
cessitous lords to thrifty yeomen who knew how to lay up 
money in spite of the turbulent times. Such a man is de- 
scribed in Latimer's sermon before Edward VI. "My father Traill, II 
was a yeoman and had no lands of his own, only he had a 391, 392 ' 
farm of three or four hundred pounds (income) by year at 
the uttermost, and hereupon he tilled so much as kept half a 
dozen men. He had walk for a hundred sheep, and my 
mother milked thirty kine. . . . He kept me to school, or 
else I had not been able to preach before the king's majesty 
now. He married my sisters with five pounds apiece. . . . 
He kept hospitality for his poor neighbors and some alms 
he gave to the poor, and all this he did of the same farm." 
Such a man, too, was Clement Paston, the founder of a great 
Norfolk family. 

The fifteenth century has been called " the golden age of Traill, II, 
English labor," and it is true that the period is marked by a 3 8 i-3 8 5. 394- 
steady rise of wages ; but prices rose no less steadily, and 
the irregularity of employment reduced the earning power 
of the workman to the cost of mere subsistence. The re- Statute of 
vised statute of laborers empowered justices of the peace Laborers > 
to fix the rate of wages and forbade the laborers to move 
about in search of better pay. Lamenting the degraded lot 
of the farm servants, Sir Thomas More says : " The state 
and condition of the laboring beasts may seem much better 
and wealthier ; for they be not put to so continual labor, 
nor their living is not much worse, yea to them much pleas- 
anter, taking no thought in the mean season for the time to 
come. But these seely poor wretches be presently tor- 
mented with barren and unfruitful labor, and the remem- 

county courts, " by great attendance of people of small substance and no 
value, whereof every one of them pretendeth a voice equivalent as to such 
elections, with the most worthy knights and squires resident." — Preamble 
to Statute. 



208 



Dynastic Wars 



brance of their poor, indigent, and beggarly old age killeth 
them up. For their daily wages is so little that it will not 
suffice for the same day, much less it yieldeth any surplus 
that may daily be laid up for the relief of old age." The 
food and shelter that might be procured with these meagre 
earnings was so poor and unwholesome that the laboring 




The George Inn, Glastonb 

After a painting by G. Arnald 



Traill, II, 

407-412. 



classes fell an easy prey to the Pestilence. Leprosy, typhoid, 
and other filth diseases ran riot. 

The citizens of the towns were far more prosperous. It 
was the policy of the burgesses to shirk all responsibility for 
the dynastic strife. Neither White Rose nor Red was worth 
the cost of a siege, and the city gates flew open to the first 



Intellectual Decadence 209 

comer. The wars, foreign and domestic, were a serious in- 
terference to commerce. Pirates infested the seas, and the 
ports were not infrequently burned by French fleets that 
scoured the coasts. The victory of York, however, afforded 
a respite during which trade revived. Edward IV, who 
earned the title of " Merchant Prince " by his successful 
ventures, did much to restore prosperity. A series of com- Traill, II, 
mercial treaties with continental powers opened new avenues 4 ° 4 - 
of trade to English merchants, while a strong and efficient 
navy cleared the Channel of pirates. A famous merchant 
of the day was Sir Richard Whittington, who amassed a for- 
tune in foreign trade, built hospitals and colleges, loaned 
money to the king, and four times fulfilled the prophecy 
rung in his boyish ears by London's bells — " Turn again, 
Whittington, Lord Mayor of London." 

Intellectual Decadence. — The fifteenth century produced 
no statesmen and no poets. It was a brutal age, in which 
the ideals that had redeemed mediaeval society — patriotism, 
religion, chivalry — languished, overborne by selfish material- 
ism. The literary impulse of the fourteenth century was Green, 
prematurely checked. The ill-fated Henry VI founded the PP- 294-298. 
grammar school of Eton and built King's College Chapel, 
Caxton set up his printing-press at Westminster, in the 
reign of Edward IV ; but with such rare exceptions, the age 
seems intellectually dead. There was a dearth of poetry Traill, II, 
and romance. Even the chroniclers give evidence of the 376-3 8 °- 
general mental apathy. Their meagre records rival the 
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in dulness. Yet, though the times 
admitted of no individual eminence in culture or in art, the 
people at large had their heart-stirring ballads, their quaint J^L^ ' 86 
religious dramas, played in the city streets on holy days, 387. 
and craftsmen wrought new beauty into church and gild- hall 
and market-cross. 



210 Dynastic Wars 

Important Events 
Reign of Henry IV, 1399-1413. 

Statute for the burning of heretics, 1401. 
Revolt of the Welsh, 1400-1415. 
Revolt of Northumberland, 1403-1408. 

Reign of Henry V, 1413-1422 

Lollard rising, 1414. 
French wars, 141 5-1422. 

Battle of Agincourt, 141 5. 

Treaty of Troyes, 1420, 

Reign of Henry VI, 1422-1461 (dethroned)-i47i (diedju 

French wars, 1422-1453. 

Siege of Orleans, 1429. 

Surrender of Maine and Anjou, 1445. 

Final loss of French provinces, 1453. 
Cade's insurrection, 1450. 
Civil War. 

Battle of St. Albans, 1455. 

Battle of Towton, 1461. 

Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, 147H. 

Reign of Richard III, 1483-1485. 
Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485. 



Chief Contemporaries 



21 



£ 3 



b » a « 



ffi A^ m 






c > 



l_J 


2" 


S *>"S * 


> 




•d ^-tj -g ^ 


>» 


d 


cS rt cS " 


c 


TJ 


-1 -o 1 3 -o 


w 




W W ^ 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE TUDORS AND THE REFORMATION 

Books for Consultation 

Sources 

Roper, Life of Sir Thomas More. 

Cavendish, Cardinal Wolsey. 

Prothero, Select Statutes and Other Documents. 

Adams and Stephens, Select Documents. 

Henderson, Side-Lights on English History. 

Pollard, Tudor Tracts. 

Rait, Mary Queen of Scots. 

Special Authorities 

Hallam, Constitutional History of England. 

Lingard, History of England. 

Scofield, A Study of the Court of the Star Chamber. 

Busch, England under the Tudors. 

Fisher, Political Llistory of England, Vol. V. 

Innes, England under the Tudors. 

Hume Brown, History of Scotland. 

Einstein, The Ltalian Renaissance in England. 

Merriman, Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell. 

Gairdner, Henry VLL. 

Hutton, Sir Thomas More. 

Pollard, Henry FILL, Political History of England, Vol. VI. 

Gasquet, Henry VIII and the English Monasteries. 

Emerton, Desiderius Erasmus. 

Stone, Reign of Mary the First. 

Hume, The Great Lord Burleigh. 

Creighton, Age of Elizabeth. 

Imaginative Literature 

Scott, Marmion. 

Shakespeare, Henry VIII. 

Scott, Kenihuorth, The Monastery, The Abbot. 

Lawless, With Essex in Ireland. 

Tennyson, Queen Mary. 

212 



Henry VII 2 1 3 

The Age of Transition. — The sixteenth century marks the 
change from mediaeval to modern society. The old con- 
ception of Christendom as a great commonwealth ruled by 
pope and emperor disappeared with the fifteenth century, 
and for the next hundred years the fortunes of Europe were 
in the hand of two strong centralized states, — Trance and 
Spain. The sixteenth century saw the break-up of ecclesi- 
astical unity with the revolt of half the Christian world 
against the spiritual dominion of the Pope. Outside the 
realm of politics and religion, even vaster changes were tak- 
ing place. To the material world of the fifteenth century a 
whole continent had been added, and the Atlantic, formerly 
a boundary, was now the highway between the Old World 
and the New. Between the beginning and the close of the 
Tudor period Europe's commercial and industrial system 
underwent a transformation. It was well for England that 
her fortunes during this critical age were in the hands of 
strong, able rulers, national in feeling and capable of giving 
the country " good governance." 

Henry VII (1485-1 509).— Henry VII, first of the Tudor 
line, came to the throne well fitted for the task before him. 
His youth had been spent in prison or in exile, and disci- Traill, II, 
pline had taught him self-control and moderation. To 44!-452. 
stern resolution he united great patience and the tact that 
marked the strongest of his house. His tastes were literary 
and artistic, and the learned men of his time were his 
friends. 

Henry had little chance to indulge the gentler sides of 
his character, for his reign was one continuous struggle to 
make secure the throne which treachery had given him. 
On Bosworth Field Lord Stanley placed the crown of Eng- 
land on Henry's head, but it took twenty years of ceaseless 
effort to make good the title. As the last representative 
of the Lancastrians he had been accepted by the Red Rose 
faction, but he was not of the direct line, and doubt had 
been cast on the legitimacy of his branch. The Yorkists, 
who had helped him overthrow Richard, had been won to 



214 



The Tii dors and the Reformation 



Gre';n, 
pp. 301-303. 
Traill, II, 
492. 



his support only by his promise to wed the Princess Eliza- 
beth, and no sooner had they placed a Tudor on the throne 
than they began to intrigue against him. It was to make 




Henry VII 

From an original picture in the National Portrait Gallery 



good the defects in his hereditary claims that Henry caused 
Parliament to pass an act vesting in him and his heirs the 
right to the crown of England. The royal revenues were 



Yorkist Risings 215 

utilized to maintain a considerable body-guard and to 
provide the king's army with cannon and ammunition. 
Henry VII possessed the only artillery within the four 
seas, and thus held an enormous advantage over his op- 
ponents. 

The king's chief security, however, lay in the lack of a 
powerful rival and in the political exhaustion of the coun- 
try. The nobility, diminished in wealth and prestige and 
divided among themselves, were not strong enough to be 
formidable alone, the Church, alarmed by attacks upon its 
doctrine and its property, clung to the throne for support, Traill, 1 1, 
while the people, weary of bloodshed and anarchy, turned 45 2 ~4 6 3- 
from war to trade and commerce and were ready to give 
their allegiance to any ruler who would establish order and 
maintain peace. 

Yorkist Risings. — During the first fifteen years of Bright, II, 
Henry's reign, several attempts were made by the Yorkist 35 8 ~3 62 - 
party to overthrow him. Two of these plots were espe- 
cially significant of the lawless and reckless conditions that 
had so long prevailed. 

In 1487 a youth presented himself in Ireland as Edward, Lambert 
Earl of Warwick, son of the Duke of Clarence. In reality, Simnel - 
the fellow's name was Lambert Simnel. He was the son of 
an Oxford baker and had been trained for his part by a 
Yorkist priest. The real Prince Edward was a prisoner in 
the Tower, but the impostor was eagerly accepted by the 
Irish and crowned king in Dublin Cathedral. Moreover, 
he received the support of the Yorkist leaders, including 
Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy and sister of Edward IV. 
With a force of Irish and Germans, Simnel invaded Lanca- 
shire, but the people did not rise, and he was easily defeated 
at the battle of Stoke, and taken prisoner. Henry, with 
contemptuous moderation, spared his life, but made him 
turnspit in the royal kitchen. 

Five years later a similar attempt was made to usurp the Perkin 
throne. This time it was a roving trader of Tournay, Warbeck. 
Perkin Warbeck by name, who landed in Cork, and was 



216 The Tudors and the Reformation 

believed by the discontented and impressionable Irish to 
See p. 203. b e Richard, the younger of the two princes, popularly sup- 
posed to have been murdered in the Tower by Richard III. 
Warbeck's claims were made formidable by the support 
which he received not merely from the heads of the Yorkist 
party but from foreign rulers hostile to Henry. Margaret 
of Burgundy kept him for two and a half years at her court, 
perfecting him in his part. James IV of Scotland recog- 
nized his claims, and Flanders and France gave him aid. 
But, as before, England refused to rise, and an attempt to 
invade Cornwall (1497) ended in Warbeck's capture and 
imprisonment. 
Bright, II, Henry's Home Policy. — The easy suppression of the 

355-35 8 - Yorkist risings was largely the result of Henry's wise policy. 

In many ways his reign may be looked upon as a continua- 
tion of that of Edward IV. The first Tudor like the last 
York strove to establish firm government, and to make 
himself independent of Parliament. To secure his realm 
against attack from abroad was the object that controlled 
his foreign relations. The methods of the two rulers were 
also similar ; both bore heavily upon the nobility and sought 
the favor of the industrial classes, and both strove to gain 
their ends by diplomacy rather than by war. 

In severe measures toward the nobility Henry was sure 
of popular support. Order was what the country most 
needed, and in the way of restoration of order stood the 
barons, with the traditions and habits formed by a genera- 
tion of civil war. Henry began at once to reduce their 
power. The statutes of Maintenance and Livery were rigor- 
ously enforced, and every violation of the laws was punished 
with crushing fines. To remedy the weakness of the ordinary 
courts in dealing with great offenders, Henry established in 
1487 a new tribunal, that could be neither bribed nor bullied. 
Court of The Court of the Star Chamber, as the new court was called, 
the Star because it met in a room in Westminster whose roof was 

decorated in a pattern of stars, was made up of certain 
members of the Privy Council and two judges, and was the 



Chamber. 



Financial 



217 



first of the great councils through which Henry and his suc- 
cessors governed the kingdom. Henry also diminished the 
political power of the nobles by placing the administration 
largely in the hands of churchmen or of men whom he him- 
self had raised to eminence. 

While thus weakening the power of the barons, Henry 
strove to gain the support of the lower classes by encourag- 
ing trade and commerce and developing the resources of 
the kingdom. He was quick to see the advantage to him- 
self and to the country in the presence of powerful indus- 
trial interests, which would balance the influence of the 
noble class and would increase the national wealth. 

Financial Measures. — Henry realized that the weakness 
of the crown in the fifteenth century was due in great meas- 
ure to the poverty of the treasury, and throughout his reign 
he strove to make good the lack. As representative of the 
united Lancastrian and Yorkist lines he inherited the pos- 
sessions of both. He was careful, almost parsimonious, in 
his expenditures. The few wars in which he engaged were 
made to pay for themselves. Of the war with France, Lord 
Bacon declared that Henry only " trafficked with that war," 
and made a double profit, " upon his subjects for the war, 
and upon his enemies for the peace." Henry, in fact, wrung 
a benevolence from the people by declaring war, and then 
forced the French king to pay him a large sum for with- 
drawing from it. Every rising, too, helped to fill the royal 
treasury. Henry had little of that thirst for blood so 
marked in his son, and he was ready to condone even 
treason for money. An important source of the royal 
revenue was the judicial fines which were imposed for in- 
fractions of the law. In the latter part of Henry's reign, 
two of his ministers, Empson and Dudley, made themselves 
detested by their extortions in such matters. Taxation, Traill, II, 
regular and irregular, steadily increased. Henry contrived 45°. 
to raise large sums of money in unusual ways, through 
feudal dues, loans, and benevolences. It was on the occa- 
sion of raising the benevolence of 149 1 that the instructions 



211 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



to the commissioners contained the famous article called 
Morton's Fork. According to Lord Bacon, Cardinal Mor- 
ton, the king's chief minister, directed the commissioners 
" that if they met any that were sparing, they should tell 
them that they must needs have, because they laid up ; and 
if they were spenders they must needs have, because it was 




The Chapf.i 



of Henry VII, Westminster 

Villars, England 



seen in their port and manner of living, so neither kind 
came amiss." 

As a result of careful management Henry was able to 
dispense with Parliament during the last years of his reign, 
and yet to leave behind him a treasure of nearly ^1,800,000, 
probably equal to $100,000,000 to-day. 

The Foreign Policy. — Henry's dealings with foreign 



Henry VIII 219 

powers were characteristic not merely of his preference for Bright, 11, 
peaceful methods, but also of the tendency of the time to 363. 364- 
substitute diplomacy for war. He was active in continental Traill, II, 
affairs, constantly on the brink of war, and yet never seri- 448, 449. 
ously fighting. The truth was, he did not feel himself 
sufficiently secure on his throne to risk a war. 

To secure England against attack, and to strengthen 
his position abroad, Henry built up a system of alliances. 
He continued the traditional policy of friendly relations 
with Spain by marrying his son and heir, Arthur, to 
Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and 
Isabella of Spain. To secure the northern border against 
the Scots, he married his eldest daughter, Margaret, to 
James IV of Scotland. With Burgundy he established 
closer commercial relations. By this threefold alliance, 
as the king himself boasted, England was surrounded 
with a wall of brass. 

Henry VIII (1509-1547). — In 1509 the king died. 
His work had been crowned with success. The spirit 
of opposition was thoroughly cowed by his stern though 
not merciless measures. Constitutional aspirations were 
checked, few Parliaments were called, and the personal 
rule of the sovereign had replaced the old limited mon- 
archy. As a result of his wise and cautious policy, Henry 
left to his son a secure throne, a full treasury, and a prosper- 
ous people. 1 

1 Henry VII, m. Elizabeth of York 



1 
Arthur, 
d. 1502 

1. James IV m. Margaret, m. 2. Lord Henry Henry VIII Mary, m. 1. Louis XII 
of Scotland I Angus m. 2. Duke of 

Suffolk 
V, m. Mary of Margaret 
I Guise 

I I 

Mary, m. 2. Darnley Frances 

. 1. Francis II I | 

of France I 

James VI of Scotland Lady Jane Grey, m. Guildford 

and I of England Dudley 




Henry VIII 

The face is engraved after the only sketch made from life by Holbein (Pinako- 
theke, Munich), the body from Holbein's painting in Windsor 



England and the New Learning 221 

The young king came to the throne with none of the New Eng- 
disadvantages against which his father had contended. He land *?°£*- 

zi/ie, March, 

was in the prime of manhood, good-humored, frank, fond of I 8 94) Article 
popularity. The darker sides of his character were as yet on Holbein, 
unrevealed, and he was greeted with delight by the nation 
weary of the suspicious, repressive policy of the preceding 
reign. 

The Renaissance. — The Renaissance, the great intel- 
lectual movement of the fifteenth century, was the result of Green, 
many influences. The unknown treasures of classic learning pp- ^S^S - 
brought by Greek scholars escaping from Constantinople 
before the Turk, the stirring discourses of Italian and Portu- 
guese mariners, the popularizing of books by means of the 
printing-press, the increased intercourse among nations 
which followed upon the consolidation of the great states of 
France and Spain, — all these things combined to bring 
about the spiritual and intellectual awakening of western 
Europe. 

England and the New Learning. — During the civil wars 
in England intellectual interests had little chance, but early 
in the sixteenth century the new learning made itself felt. 
Although the English Renaissance received its impulse from 
Italy, it at once assumed a character of its own. It was less 
concerned with culture as such, it was more moral and prac- 
tical. At Oxford a remarkable group of scholars was 
gathered, and in the life and work of three of them, Colet, 
Erasmus, and More, the diverse aspects of the new learning 
found expression. 

In John Colet, preacher and teacher, were typified the 
religious and intellectual interests of the movement. Colet, 
as Dean of St. Paul's and royal chaplain, was influential in 
reforming some of the abuses in the Church, but his most 
enduring achievement was the founding of St. Paul's 
School, which set an example of better methods and a 
wider range of studies than had prevailed in the old monastic 
schools. 

Colet's pupil, Desiderius Erasmus, led in the attack upon 



222 The Tadors and the Reformation 

the ecclesiastical conditions of the time. His famous work, 
The Praise of Folly, held up to the scorn of the world the 
ignorance and superstition of the priesthood. 

In Sir Thomas More all the freshness and audacity 
of the new movement were brought to bear upon the 
social and political problems of the day. Utopia, More's 
most famous work, first issued in 151 6, was a satire on 
the defects of English society, veiled under a descrip- 
tion of life in " Nowhere." His views were greatly at 
odds with the tendencies of the time ; but progress since 
his day has been mainly along the lines which he in- 
dicated. 

At first the young king was much interested in the Oxford 
movement, and bestowed many favors upon its leaders, 
but his aims accorded little with their ideals. As a result of 
his policy the country was soon involved in the turmoil 
of continental politics and religious strife, and the revival of 
learning in England had little direct result. 

Wolsey. — Although from the first Henry's vigorous, mas- 
terful personality dominated his surroundings, yet during the 
early part of his reign the shaping of England's home and 
Green, foreign policy was mainly in the hands of his great minister, 

pp. 332-334- Thomas Wolsey. The son of an Ipswich burgher, Wolsey 
cli T was trame d f° r the Church and held a royal chaplaincy in 
Wolsey, the reign of the first Tudor. Under Henry VIII he rose 

pp. 18-23. rapidly in office, until finally, in 15 15, he was made 
chancellor, receiving in the same year the cardinal's hat. 
His great abilities, his industry, and his devotion to the 
royal interest made him indispensable to Henry, who 
heaped upon him office and honor and intrusted him for 
fourteen years with the highest authority in Church and 
State. 

Wolsey's aim was to make the king absolute in England, 
and England the first state in Europe. He felt that the 
royal power was the only means of holding the country 
together, and he believed that the time had come for Eng- 
land to take part, in continental affairs if she would main- 



Foreign Relations 



223 



tain her place among nations. Peace was his policy, how- 
ever, and diplomacy his weapon. England was to make 
her influence felt not through conquest, but by holding the 
balance of power between the rival states of France and 
Spain, now contending for mastery in Europe. 

Foreign Relations. — During the first part of the sixteenth Bright, II, 
century the destinies of Europe were in the hands of three 377-381. 
young rulers. Six years after Henry's accession, Francis I 
ascended the French throne, and in 15 19 Charles V, at the 
age of nineteen, found himself Emperor of Germany and 




The Field of the Cloth of Gold 

From the famous painting in Hampton Court Palace 

ruler of Spain, the Netherlands, and the Italian provinces. 
The maintenance of the balance of power was the control- 
ling interest in international relations. Charles and Francis 
were rivals on the Continent, and both sought to secure the 
aid of England. In 1520 Francis and Henry met near 
Calais, and the gorgeous display on both sides gave to the 
meeting the name of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The 
underlying object of the French king was to secure Henry's 
alliance, but Charles had been beforehand and had already 
come to an understanding with the English king. 



224 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Source-Book, 
pp. 136-140. 



Flodden, 
*5i3- 



Green, 

pp. 327-329- 



Wolsey's purpose, however, was to make England media- 
tor of Europe, and not an ally of either France or Spain. 
In the main his support was given to France as the weaker 
party, but the interests of trade, the marriage alliance, and 
the traditional hostility between the English and French 
tended to draw England to the Emperor's side. Wolsey was 
a master of diplomacy, and as a result of his efforts England 
regained that influence on the Continent which she had lost 
during the civil wars, and became for a time the arbiter of 
Europe. 

Henry was eager to play a more active part in foreign 
affairs. In 1512 and 1513, and again in 1523, England sent 
expeditions into France, but as a rule there was much nego- 
tiation and intrigue and little fighting. The only general 
engagement of the period was fought on the Scottish 
Border. At the battle of Flodden (1513), the Scots, as 
usual allied with France, were completely defeated by the 
English and lost their king. In 1526, Wolsey's triumph 
seemed complete, and there was nothing to indicate that 
the crisis of the reign, bringing with it his downfall, was 
impending. 

The Royal Divorce. — Soon after his accession Henry, hav- 
ing obtained the necessary papal dispensation, had married 
Catherine of Aragon, the widow of his brother Arthur. For 
many years they had lived together, and she had borne him 
several children, of whom, however, only one, the Princess 
Mary, survived. At length the king's scruples were awakened 
as to the validity of his marriage. He began to doubt the 
pope's power to grant a dispensation, and he saw in the 
death of his children a punishment for having violated 
the ecclesiastical law. Moreover, he realized the danger to 
the peace of the country in the lack of a male heir. Although 
not excluded by law, no woman had ever reigned in England, 
and the evil that might result from a disputed succession had 
been proved by a generation of civil war. Henry was skil- 
ful in finding conscientious reasons for gratifying his selfish 
desires, and it is probable that the bright eyes and merry wit 



The Royal Divorce 



225 



of Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine's ladies-in-waiting, helped 
to arouse him to the sinfulness of his condition. 

Catherine spurned the suggestion that she should quietly 
submit to being set aside, and Henry, by the advice of 
Wolsey, appealed to the pope for a divorce. At first the 
cardinal had opposed Henry's scheme of separation, but 
finding his remonstrances fruitless, he gave way, hoping to 



Anne 
Boleyn. 




/uJ jtci/E sties JiMa/prffenemlfccc 

Cr/[c"r,(>xroKn {/■Airmti&ift%Utori&t& 



Christ Church College, Oxford, founded by Wolsey 



turn the matter to good account in foreign politics, by mar- 
rying Henry to a French princess. The appeal to the pope 
was unsuccessful. Clement was not free to act, for he was 
practically in the power of the Emperor, who was Catherine's 
nephew and had ardently espoused her cause. A positive 
answer was delayed, but it was plain that the pope dared 
not annul a marriage sanctioned by one of his predecessors. 
Q 



226 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Creighton, 
Cardinal 
Wolsey, 
pp. 102-106, 
110-115. 
Bright, II, 
386-388. 



Green, 
PP- 3 2 4-. 
3 2 9-33i- 



Creighton, 
Cardinal 
Wolsey, 
ch. XI. 



Creighton, 
Age of 
Elizabeth, 
pp. 1-4. 



Fall of Wolsey. — The king's disappointment at the check 
to his union with Anne Boleyn was great, and he consoled 
himself by disgracing Wolsey, on whom, most unreasonably, 
the blame of defeat was thrown. With untiring zeal the car- 
dinal had labored in the interests of the king, but no memory 
of past services could put a curb on Henry's selfishness. 
The great minister was friendless. The nobles were jealous 
of his power, and he was feared and hated by the people. 
The methods of his government had been arbitrary. Only 
once (1523) had Parliament been convened during the period 
of VVolsey's administration. Henry's warlike ambition and 
personal extravagance placed heavy burdens on the people, 
and the chancellor had to bear the brunt of every unpopular 
measure. In 1525, for example, an attempt was made to 
meet the king's need of money by asking the nation for what 
was called an "amicable loan." The plan had to be given 
up because of popular opposition, and Wolsey took the 
odium of the proposal upon himself. " Because every man 
layeth the burden from him, I am content to take it on me, 
and to endure the noise and fame of the people, for my good 
will towards the king . . . but the Eternal God knoweth all." 
Wolsey had made the king absolute at home, and had raised 
England from a third-rate power to the rank of a great state. 
Now he was no longer needed, and his ungrateful master 
removed him from office (1529). 

The Protestant Reformation. — The divorce question had 
consequences even more momentous than the overthrow of 
Wolsey, for it opened the way to separation from Rome and 
to reform in the Church. On the Continent the fierce pas- 
sions of religious revolution were stirring. Men had long 
been ready for revolt against the misused authority of a 
corrupt and secularized papacy, and the attack made by 
Martin Luther on the practices and teachings of the Church 
found quick response. When the German friar nailed the 
ninety-five theses against indulgences to the door of the 
church at Wittenberg (15 17), he gave the signal for a 
movement that was to convulse Christendom. 



The Protestant Reformation 



227 



To all appearances the Church in England was never so Bright, n, 
strong as at the accession of Henry VIII. It had enjoyed 474.475- 
general immunity from the devastations of the civil war. 
Its wealth was enormous, — one-third the land of the king- 
dom is said to have been under its control. It possessed 
its own legislative assembly (convocation) and its own courts 
of justice. Ecclesiastics filled the great state offices, and 
were in the majority in the House of Lords. But higher 
and lower clergy alike were corrupt and neglectful of their Traill, II, 
responsibilities. In a sermon preached at St. Paul's Cross, 464-475- 




The Tithe Barn, Glastonbury 

From a photograph 



Latimer declared that the devil was the only bishop in all 
England who attended to his duty. Extortionate fees were 
charged by the priests for their religious offices. Pluralities 
multiplied ; some of the clergy held as many as eight bene- 
fices. 1 

The Church was losing its hold upon the people. Lol- 

l Wolsey was at once Archbishop of York, Bishop of Winchester and 
of Durham, and Abbot of St. Albans. 



228 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



lardry had accustomed men to criticise the clergy. The 
bold, intellectual spirit of the age was impatient of ecclesi- 
astical dogma and ignorance, and the traditional dislike to 
papal interference was strong. The influence of the re- 
ligious agitation on the Continent was quickly felt in Eng- 
land. Books and pamphlets from Germany flooded the 




The Abbey Kitchen, Glastonbury 

From a photograph 



country. Cambridge became a hotbed of heresy. Asso- 
ciations, the most famous of which was called the Christian 
Brethren, were formed for the study and circulation of the 
Bible. 1 

1 The Scriptures had been translated into English in 1526 by William 
Tyndale, and were rendered accessible through the printing press. 



Long Parliament of the Reformation 229 

It was plain that the seeming strength of the Church 
was a mere shadow, that its power was wholly dependent 
upon royal favor. Henry had shown himself hitherto a 
loyal son of the Church. He gloried in the title of Defender 
of the Faith, and had engaged in a wordy contest with 
Luther ; but his temper was too selfish, his love of popularity 
too great, to afford any security for the future. 

Thomas Cromwell. — The year 1529 marks a turning-point Green, 
in the affairs of Church and State. The master-mind in the pp- 33!-333, 
revolutionizing work that followed Wolsey's fall was Thomas 
Cromwell. Although one of the most remarkable of English 
statesmen, much of Cromwell's character and career remains 
a mystery. He was of humble origin and had served as a 
trooper in the Italian wars. In 1523 he was an active mem- 
ber of the House of Commons, and a little later he entered 
Wolsey's service, remaining the cardinal's faithful friend after 
his overthrow. He was already in middle life when he won 
the king's favor by his audacious advice that Henry should 
divorce Catherine by his own royal decree. In a short time 
he became the second man in the kingdom. Cromwell's pur- 
pose, steadily worked out during the years of his power, was 
the concentration of all authority in the hands of the king. 
His methods were bold and ruthless, he inaugurated a reign 
of terror. No individual was too high, no interest too power- 
ful, to cause him to stay his hand. Wolsey strove to rule 
without Parliament, but Cromwell made the national assem- 
bly his tool. During the next ten years of his administration, 
every constitutional limitation on the royal will was borne 
down or made meaningless, the Church was humbled, and 
the government became a despotism pure and simple. 

Long Parliament of the Reformation. — The Parliament 
which met in 1529, and which sat for seven years, was the 
instrument through which England was revolutionized. The 
king had turned reformer since the clergy espoused Cathe- 
rine's cause. The House of Commons was packed, but there 
needed no urging to induce the attack upon the Church. 
The beginning once made, advance was rapid. Benefit of 



230 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Green, 

PP- 336-338. 



Act of 

Supremacy, 

1534- 

Bright, II, 
479-484. 



Traill, II, 
466-469. 



clergy was done away, pluralities were abolished, church 
dues, such as burial fees, were regulated, the jurisdiction of 
ecclesiastical courts was circumscribed, convocation was 
shorn of much of its power, and the choice of bishops was 
made entirely subject to the royal will. 

Hand in hand with these changes in the Church in 
England went measures affecting the connection with Rome. 
Henry readily acknowledged the power of the pope, so long 
as that power was used to further his will, but he now 
began to doubt the usefulness of an institution that stood 
in his way. Acting on Cromwell's advice, the king had 
caused the divorce question to be brought before an English 
court presided over by Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. 
To stop an appeal from Catherine to the pope, a statute 
was passed, prohibiting appeals to Rome. When Cranmer's 
court proceeded to pass a decree of divorce, 1 it was met 
by a papal decision in favor of Catherine and a bull of ex- 
communication against the king. Henry had already wrung 
from the clergy a limited recognition of his supremacy. 
Parliament- now declared the pope to have no more au- 
thority over the Church of England than any other foreign 
bishop, and by the Act of Supremacy (1534) the king was 
made supreme head of the Church in England. 

Attack upon the Monasteries. — The work of revolution 
in the Church did not stop at the break with Rome. 
Cromwell, who was now the king's vicar-general in all 
ecclesiastical matters, determined to strike a blow at the 
monasteries. Their condition had long been a crying 
evil. As early as the reign of Henry IV the House of 
Commons had demanded their suppression. Repeated at- 
tempts at reform had been made. Wolsey, who realized 
the dangerous position of the Church, had tried to meet 
criticism by reform from within, and he had accepted a 
legative commission from the pope that he might have 
greater control over the monasteries. But he did little 
more than clearly to reveal the rottenness of the whole 

1 Henry was already secretly married to Anne Boleyn. 



Attack upon the Monasteries 



231 



structure. The age of monasticism was passed, and as a 
rule the religious establishments had become mere land- 
owning corporations, chiefly interested in adding to their 
wealth. Cromwell appointed a commission (1535) to in- 
vestigate the conditions of the monastic houses. The " Black 
Book," the commissioners' report to Parliament, was burned 
in the reign of Mary by order of the queen, but the in- 




The Ruined Abbey, Glastonbury 

From a photograph 



formation that remains is sufficient to show that many of 
the smaller monasteries merited the fate that overtook them. 
In 1536, by act of Parliament, all monasteries having an 
annual revenue of less than ^200 were suppressed and 
their property was confiscated by the crown. Three years 
later all other religious houses were dissolved. The monas- 
tic buildings were laid desolate or secularized, and it is esti- 
mated that over eighty thousand persons were driven forth 



232 



The Tndors and the Reformation 



Green, 

pp. 340, 341, 

35 L 354.355- 



Ten 
Articles. 

The English 
Bible given 
to the 
people. 

Source-Book, 
pp. 144, 145. 



Green, 

PP- 343-347- 



homeless. 1 The annual income of the monasteries has been 
estimated at about ^200,000. Part of this wealth was used 
for national purposes, the founding of new bishoprics, and 
the defence of the coasts ; but the greater portion was 
squandered upon the nobles and courtiers about the king. 

Progress in Doctrinal Reform. — Meanwhile, changes were 
taking place which were not intended by the government 
when it began the attack upon the Church. Protestantism 
was steadily gaining ground. The triumph of Anne Boleyn 
and her kinsfolk, the Howards, favored the reform party, and 
the Archbishop of Canterbury gave it his countenance. 
Moreover, Henry's ecclesiastical policy had resulted in the 
isolation of England, and to meet this danger Cromwell was 
drawing closer to the protestant princes of North Germany. 
This made it impossible to use harsh measures toward fol- 
lowers of the new doctrines at home. Popular feeling and 
political considerations combined to hurry the government 
along. In 1530 the Council, by the king's command, had 
issued a declaration against Luther's writings, but in 1536, 
convocation, acting at Henry's bidding, drew up the Ten 
Articles, a statement of doctrine which showed a decided 
advance toward Lutheranism. A complete English transla- 
tion of the Bible had been made by Coverdale, under the 
auspices of the king, and it was ordered (153S) that a copy 
of this, open to all, should be placed in every church. Por- 
tions of the service, also, were translated into the vernacular. 
The destruction of the monasteries was accompanied by an 
attack upon relics, the object of popular worship. Here the 
religious zeal of the reformer was reenforced by the greed 
of the spoilsman, since some of the shrines were rich in gold 
and jewels. 2 

Attitude of the Nation. — The changes wrought in the 
constitution of the Church created at first but slight stir 



1 For most of the religious a scanty provision was made. 

2 Among the shrines destroyed by the king's order was that of St. 
Thomas of Canterbury. The treasure which had accumulated was taken 
away by cart loads, and the bones of the saint were burned. 



Attitude of the Nation 233 

among the people. Indifference in religious matters was 
general, and there was little loyalty to the Papacy. In 1533 
Anne Boleyn gave birth to a daughter (afterward Queen 
Elizabeth), and Parliament proceeded to pass an Act of 
Succession declaring the marriage with Catherine invalid 
and settling the succession upon the children of the second 
marriage. 1 At the pleasure of the king any one might be 
required to take an oath to accept this statute, which was 
equivalent to denial of the papal authority. By the Act of 
Supremacy (1534) it was declared high treason to refuse to 
acknowledge the king as Supreme Head of the Church. There 
was little backwardness in taking the required oaths. Alone 
among the religious establishments the monks of the Charter 
House were firm in their loyalty to Rome, and they paid for 
their devotion with their lives. Two men of European fame 
were executed for refusing to take the oath of the Act of 
Succession. One was Fisher, the venerable Bishop of Executioi 
Rochester, renowned for his learning and piety. The other and More 
was Sir Thomas More, the greatest scholar of the age, and 1533. 
beloved of all men. 

Discontent was growing ; for although there was much source-Boo\ 
indifference to the papal connection, the popular temper PP 140-144- 
was conservative and the ancient Church still had a hold 
upon men's hearts if not upon their minds. The excesses 
of some of the reformers gave deep offence, and dissatis- 
faction was increased by the dissolution of the monasteries. 
In the north, especially, where were many of the larger 
houses, the monks had endeared themselves to the poor. 
Moreover, many of the older nobility were jealous of the 
power wielded by the upstart Cromwell. These various 

1 Henry VIII, m. i. Catherine of Aragon, 1509 

Mary 

m. 2. Anne Boleyn, 1533 

Elizabeth 
m. 3. Jane Seymour, 1536 

Edward VI 
m. 4. Anne of Cleves, 1540 
m. 5. Catherine Howard, 1540 
m. 6. Catherine Parr, 1543 



234 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Pilgrimage 
of Grace, 
I536- 



Green, 

PP- 355, 356. 



Six Articles, 
1539- 



grievances led to a great rising of the north in 1536. The 
first outbreak was at Lincoln, but the movement soon spread 
to Yorkshire, where it found an able leader in Robert Aske, 
a young London barrister. The Pilgrimage of Grace, as the 
rising was called, included all classes, great churchmen, 
nobles, the gentry, and the country people led by the parish 
priests. The demands of the insurgents were for the resto- 
ration of the monasteries, the extirpation of heresy, and the 
overthrow of Cromwell. But the crown was too strong to 
be forced to give way, the rising was ruthlessly repressed, 
and the leaders, including some of the greatest men in the 
Church and among the nobility, were put to death. 

The Crown and Reaction. — Nevertheless, in the main, 
Henry was at one with the people on religious questions. 
He would have been content with separation from Rome. 
He had no wish to overthrow the ancient worship, and 
was opposed to doctrinal changes. With the extreme 
views of the Protestants he had no sympathy whatever. 
Political considerations forced him to connive for a time 
at the progress of the reformation in England, but by 1539 
it was plain that the danger on the Continent had passed 
away, and Henry was free to follow his natural conservatism. 
Parliament, completely subservient to his will, passed an 
act for " abolishing diversity of opinion in certain articles 
concerning Christian religion." The Act of the Six Articles, 
as this measure was called, contained the fundamental 
Catholic doctrines and closed the way to even moderate 
doctrinal change. Under the "whip with six strings," perse- 
cution of the Protestants followed, and many were put to 
death. On the other hand, Henry abated nothing of his 
claim to supremacy, and on the same scaffold men died for 
denying the Catholic doctrine and for maintaining the papal 
supremacy. Throughout the remaining years of his reign 
Henry succeeded in holding an uncertain balance between 
the old and the new order, but it was plain that a tide 
of feeling was rising which would soon sweep away all 
compromises. 



The Affairs of Scotland 235 

Fall of Cromwell. — Closely connected with the triumph Green, 
of a reactionary policy was the fall of Cromwell. The PP- 347. 348. 
great minister's foreign policy was based on a union with 
Protestant Germany, and in the interests of this scheme he 
had planned a marriage between Henry, now a widower for 
the third time, and a German princess, Anne of Cleves. 
But the grand alliance against the emperor miscarried, 
and Cromwell's doom was sealed by the king's dissatisfac- 
tion with the wife chosen for him. The nobles clamored 
for the minister's overthrow, and he met the usual fate of 
Henry's instruments when no longer of service. Charged 
with treason, he was seized at the council table, and sent 
to the scaffold by a bill of attainder 1 without being heard 
in his own defence (1540). 

The Affairs of Scotland. — The remaining years of the 
reign were filled with trouble with Scotland. The defeat 
of Flodden Field (15 13) had been followed by an outbreak Bright, II, 
of lawlessness in the northern kingdom. A struggle between 4 I 4~4 I 9- 
parties representing the French and the English influence 
ended in the marriage of the king, James V, with Mary of 
Guise, and the triumph of the French interest. In 1542 
war between Francis I and Charles V involved the British 
kingdoms. A Scottish force crossed the Border, but was 
defeated at Solway Moss. James V did not long survive 
the disgrace of defeat. He left the kingdom to his infant 
daughter, the famous Mary Stuart. 

Power of the Crown. — Under the second Tudor per- 
sonal rule reached its fullest development. All power was 
concentrated in the hands of the king, the Church lay at 
his feet, Parliament simply registered his wishes. The 
forms of constitutional rule were maintained, but in actual 
fact the government was despotic. At the royal bidding 
new treasons were created, the succession was changed, 

1 A bill of attainder was introduced into Parliament and became law 
like any other measure, after passing both Houses and receiving the royal 
assent. By this process condemnation to death could be secured in a 
summary manner and without the production of evidence. 



236 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Bright, II, 

420, 421. 



royal proclamations were declared to have the force of law, 
and finally the king was permitted to name his successor 
by will. 1 Nevertheless Henry did not lose touch with the 
nation ; he understood the temper of his subjects and, 
unscrupulous and self-seeking though he was, he still won 
popular approval even while treading popular liberty under 
foot. 




Coronation Procession of Edward VI passing Cheapside Cross 

From a contemporary painting. Marck, Konigin Elizabeth 

Edward VI (1547-1553). — The heir to the great power 
which Henry had built up was a boy of nine years. By the 
royal will a council representing both parties and including 



1 By his last will Henry left the crown to Prince Edward and his heirs, 
then to Mary and her heirs, then to Elizabeth and her heirs, and then 
to Mary of Suffolk and her heirs, passing over the descendants of his older 
sister Margaret of Scotland. 



The Protestant Revolution 237 

the chancellor, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Earl 
of Hertford, the young king's uncle, was appointed to 
govern the realm during the minority. The late king was 
still unburied when his will was set aside, and Hertford, now 
Duke of Somerset, was made Protector of the kingdom and Somerset, 
guardian of the young king. Somerset had little fitness for Protector - 
the place which he had seized. He was sincere and earnest 
and full of philanthropic ideas, but impulsive and over- 
confident. The task before him was a difficult one. Rela- 
tions with France and Scotland were critical, while at home 
there was much social discontent and religious division. 

The Scottish War. — Somerset's incompetency was at once Bright, II, 
shown by his dealings with Scotland. With great effort 4 2 5-4 2 7- 
Henry VIII had established friendly relations with the 
Scots, and on the accession of Edward an unrivalled oppor- 
tunity offered for uniting the two countries by marrying the 
young king to the little queen of Scots. Somerset's blunder- 
ing policy brought on a war with Scotland which, though it 
ended in the English victory of Pinkie (1547), had the 
effect of strengthening French influence across the Border. 
Mary Stuart was carried to France and betrothed to the 
young Dauphin. In the war with France which soon 
broke out, England could reckon on the hostility of Scotland. 

The Protestant Revolution. — Under the Protector's lead, 
many of the measures of the preceding reign were 
promptly reversed by Parliament. The Act of Six Articles 
was repealed, as were also all laws against heresy, and the 
statute giving royal proclamations the force of law was 
annulled. All the treasons created by Henry VIII were 
swept away. A later Parliament supplemented this action 
by requiring that henceforth the testimony of two witnesses 
should be necessary for conviction of treason. 

Somerset's advance to power meant the triumph of the Bright, II, 
reform party. Personal conviction as well as self-interest 4 2 4, 427-429. 
led the duke to oppose the old order, and in this he was JZ g f° n ' 
supported by the young king, who had imbibed protestant Elizabeth, 
ideas from his tutors. The short reign was a period of pp - l6 ~ l8- 



238 The Tudor s and the Reformation 

Green, religious revolution. Not content with constitutional and 

PP- 357. 35 8 - formal changes, Somerset sought to transform at once the 
Source-Book, doctrines and ritual of the Church. By law or by royal in- 
pp. 146-148. junction, a new order was introduced with bewildering 
rapidity. The sacred images were removed from the 
churches, the beautiful stained glass was broken, and the 
pictures painted on the walls were covered with whitewash. 
Marriage of the clergy was made legal. The vernacular 
supplanted Latin in the Church service. The mass was 
replaced by the communion service, and in 1549 the Eng- 
lish Book of Common Prayer was substituted for the Latin 
missal and breviary upon which it was based. 

The confiscation of Church property was carried to a 
length unthought of by Henry. Somerset leaned for sup- 
port upon the " new men," the gentry and nobility en- 
riched by the plunder of the monasteries, and it was 
necessary to satisfy his rapacious followers. The chantries 
were despoiled, and gild property devoted to religious pur- 
poses was attacked. Cranmer tried in vain to have a por- 
tion of this wealth used for the relief of the poorer clergy. 

The revolutionary measures were hurried through with 
small regard for popular feeling. Irreverence and unbridled 
license ran riot. Parodies of the mass were common. The 
spoil of the churches, altar-cloths, copes, chalices, were used 
to deck the halls of private persons, and the newly married 
wives of the clergy eked out their wardrobes with ecclesias- 
tical vestments. Somerset did not hesitate to tear down 
churches to make room for his new palace in London. 
Creighton, Popular Opposition and the Fall of Somerset. — From the 

A? e of nrst i t was pi am t h at t he nation was not ready for extreme 

Elizabeth, , „ . •, • i i • i i j 

pp. 19-23. measures, but all resistance was put down with a high hand. 
The clergy were silenced by decrees that there should be no 
preaching save by a few licensed preachers, and two of the 
bishops, Gardiner and Bonner, who clung to the old order, 
were flung into prison. But discontent was strong and was 
increased by social grievances. Somerset's political policy 
was as ill-judged as were his ecclesiastical measures. Wars 



England under Northumberland 239 

with Scotland and France meant heavy taxation, and the 
repeated debasements of the coinage resulted in financial 
disorder. Moreover, it was a time of agrarian disturbance 
(p. 270), a state of things for which the government was 
not responsible, but which added to its unpopularity. 

In 1549, risings took place in Devon and Cornwall. The Bright, II, 
insurgents demanded the restoration of mass and the re- 43I ~ 433- 
establishment of images. More serious was an insurrection 
in Norfolk, led by Ket, a tanner, and directed against 
enclosures. Order was restored only by employing a force 
of foreign mercenaries, the first time that such a force 
had been used against a rising of the people since the reign 
of John. These insurrections led to the overthrow of 
Somerset. He was disliked by many because of his reli- 
gious innovations and his futile foreign policy, while the 
readiness which he showed to treat with the insurgents in 
the matter of enclosures had aroused the fears of the 
landowners. 

England under Northumberland. — The office of Protector Bright, 11, 
was abolished at the fall of Somerset, but the power passed 434_43 • 442 
to the Earl of Warwick, later Duke of Northumberland. ^S/jSw 
Northumberland was as incapable as Somerset and far less ^ Ai 
honest and sincere. One of the grounds of complaint pp- 2 3~ 2 7- 
against Somerset was that he had not provided adequately Green, 
for the security of England at home or abroad, but matters pp ' 359_3 x * 
did not improve under his successor. 

From self-seeking motives, Northumberland espoused the 
cause of the advanced reformers. Plunder of the Church 
was more shameless than ever, and some of the bishoprics 
were stripped of their endowments. In 1552 a revised ser- 
vice book was issued, and in the following year the Forty- Forty-twc 
two Articles, drawn up by Cranmer, and strongly Calvinistic 
in character, were promulgated on the authority of the king, 
as the standard of faith for the nation. 

The little king had never been strong, and by 1553 it was 
plain that he had not long to live. By Henry's will his suc- 
cessor would be the Princess Mary, and it was certain that 



Articles. 



I 



OHW 



240 The Tudors and the Reformation 

Northumberland and the Protestant cause could not hope to 
find favor with her. To save himself, the duke devised a 
plan of setting Mary and Elizabeth aside as illegitimate, in 
order to secure the crown to his daughter-in-law, the Lady 
Jane Grey, granddaughter of Mary of 
Suffolk. The young king's support foi 
\f-tffi this scheme was won through repre- 
U ' H sentations of the danger to Protestant- 
ism from Mary's succession. Before 
the arrangements were complete, however, Edward died. 
Among the crowd of greedy intriguing courtiers the little 
king had moved a lonely and pathetic figure. His life was 
too short to show what kind of a ruler he would have been, 
but he was studious and conscientious, with some plain in- 
dications of the Tudor strength of will. 
Green, Mary (1553-1558). — Intimidated by Northumberland, 

PP- 3 6 7.3 68 - t ne Council proclaimed Lady Jane Grey queen of England. 
But the people hated Northumberland, and they knew noth- 
ing of the Lady Jane. The eastern counties rose in Mary's 
support, the duke's army refused to fight against her, and 
amid general rejoicing she was proclaimed queen by the 
same Council that a little before had given the crown to her 
rival. 

The religious system which Edward and his advisers had 
built up rested chiefly on the power of the crown, and on the 
accession of Mary a reaction at once set in. Without inter- 
ference from the government, mass was restored, and, save 
in London and a few of the larger towns, there was a general 
return to-the order established by Henry VIII. 

Mary, however, was not content with undoing the work 
of Somerset and Northumberland : she wished to restore 
the ancient Church in all its completeness, to reinstate the 
monasteries, to renew the connection with Rome. By the 
advice of Gardiner, whom Edward's death had set free and 
who was now chancellor, Mary did not at first press these 
points. But she refused to recognize the marriage of the 
clergy, the deprived bishops were restored, and many of the 



Repeal of Protestant Legislation 241 

leading Protestants were either driven into exile or, as 
in the case of Cranmer and Latimer, thrown into prison. 




Mary Tudor 

From a painting ascribed to Antonio Moro 



f f t 



Repeal of Protestant Legislation. — A carefully packed 
Parliament was convened (1554), and it showed great com- 

R 



242 



The Tadors and the Reformation 



Green, 

pp. 362-364. 

Creighton, 

Age of 

Elizabeth, 

pp. 28-36. 



Wyatt's 
rising, 1554. 



Execution 
of Lady 
Jane Grey. 



plaisance toward the royal policy. Both Houses attended 
the celebration of mass at the opening of the session. A 
bill was passed declaring illegal the decree of divorce pro- 
nounced against Catherine by Cranmer's court. All the 
measures of Edward VI touching the Church were repealed, 
and, after six days' debate, the order of worship as practised 
in the last years of Henry VIII was established. 

The Spanish Marriage. — Thus far Mary had encountered 
little opposition, but her next move aroused bitter hostility. 
Charles V wished to secure the support of England against 
France by marrying the English queen to his son and heir, 
Philip. Mary received the proposal favorably, for in her 
loneliness she turned to her mother's relatives, but the nation 
was strongly opposed to the idea of a Spanish alliance, and 
the Commons petitioned against it. 

The popular indignation was turned to account by the 
friends of the Princess Elizabeth. Risings were organized 
in different parts of the country, but the movement was 
mismanaged, and failed everywhere except in Kent. There 
Sir Thomas Wyatt brought together a large force and 
marched upon London. Mary was in great danger, but with 
true Tudor energy and tact she threw herself upon the 
loyalty of the people. By her personal appeal their support 
was won, and the insurrection was put down. 

The failure of Wyatt's rising sealed the doom of Lady 
Jane Grey. She had been held a prisoner in the Tower 
since Mary's accession. Now, at the age of seventeen, she 
was led forth to die upon the scaffold. A vain attempt was 
made to implicate Elizabeth in the insurrection, but she 
had been too shrewd to commit herself to a treasonable ris- 
ing, and the moderate party in the council was strongly 
opposed to severe measures against the next heir, so her 
life was saved. Parliament made no further opposition to 
the Spanish marriage, and in July, 1554, it was celebrated in 
spite of the lukewarmness of the bridegroom, who, much as 
he prized the English crown, cared little for its wearer. 

Persecution. — Mary now turned her attention to bringing 



The Spanish Marriage 243 

England again under the supremacy of Rome. Prepara- Green, 

tions were carefully made, a new Parliament was called, PP- 3 6 4-3 6 9- 
and persons of influence were directed to secure the return 

of men of " wise, grave and Catholic sort." All efforts were Creighton, 

in vain, however, and it soon became evident that recon- A J?' °f , 

Elizabeth, 

ciliation with Rome could never be brought about if it pp . 36-38. 
involved restoration of the abbey lands. 1 The queen was 
obliged to compromise, and Parliament was at length 
brought to the point of acknowledging the spiritual head- 
ship of the Pope on condition that the confiscated estates 
were left undisturbed. 

Mary was determined to make real the reunion with 
Rome. In forcing her views upon the nation, she showed 
all the self-will of the Tudors united to the intemperate 
zeal of the fanatic. Her advisers hesitated, Philip coun- 
selled moderation, but nothing could deter the queen from 
the work upon which she had set her heart. She forced 
from Parliament a renewal of the Lancastrian laws against 
heresy and at once pressed on their execution. 

From 1555 to 1558 persecution raged, the greatest per- 
secution in English history. Neither high nor low were 
spared. The Martyr's Memorial at Oxford marks the place 
where Ridley, the deprived Bishop of London, and Latimer 
Henry VIH's favorite preacher, were burned side by side. 
" Play the man, Master Ridley," were Latimer's last words ; 
" we shall this day light up such a candle by God's grace 
in England as I trust shall never be put out." Foremost 
of the martyrs stood Cranmer, primate of the Church. Of Death of 
great learning but of cautious temper, he had slowly come 
to take an advanced position in opposition to the papal 
claims ; but though his conviction was strong, his heart was 
weak, and he shrank before the final test. Six successive 
times he recanted in the hope of purchasing pardon, but 
pardon was out of the question. He represented the 
extreme party of English Protestants, and, moreover, Mary 
was personally hostile to him as an active agent in her 

1 Some forty thousand families were interested. 



Cranmer, 
1556' 



244 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Loss of 
Calais, 1558. 



Source-Book, 
pp. 151-153. 



Creighton, 
Age of 
Elizabeth, 
PP- 51-53- 



mother's divorce. When once his final doom was pro- 
nounced, he regained his courage. " I have written many 
things untrue," he said, "and forasmuch as my hand 
offended in writing contrary to my heart, my hand, there- 
fore, shall be the first burnt." Nearly three hundred per- 
sons suffered for their faith, most of them in the towns and 
thickly settled districts, for there new opinions found more 
ready acceptance than in the country. 

Mary's Failure. — Darkened by bitter grief, the life of the 
unhappy queen drew to a close. She was disappointed in 
her hope of children, and she was forced to see that Philip 
had sought in her merely the instrument of his political 
schemes. Through the Spanish connection, England was 
involved in a useless war with France which resulted in the 
loss of Calais (1558). This was a heavy blow to the nation, 
and Mary was too much a Tudor not to feel the popular 
disapproval. Moreover, all her efforts had brought Eng- 
land no nearer the old faith, nay, had rather frustrated her 
purpose. Men looked askance at a church that could 
maintain itself only through persecution. 

State of Europe, 1558. — When Elizabeth ascended the 
throne of England, the political situation in Europe was 
complicated and threatening. The keynote to international 
politics was still the rivalry between France and Spain. 
Charles V, weary of the ungrateful and difficult task of gov- 
erning his scattered possessions, had abdicated in favor of his 
son Philip II, who became ruler of Spain and the Netherlands, 
and of unlimited territories in the New World. Philip's 
aim was to restore the mediaeval state and to unite Chris- 
tendom, under the empire, not of Germany, but of Spain. 
In his way stood France, in close alliance with Scotland, and, 
through her position, a constant menace to the Low Coun- 
tries. 

The difficulties of the political situation were greatly in- 
creased by the state of religious feeling. The Reformation 
had entered upon a new phase. Under the influence of 
the Genevan reformer, John Calvin, Protestantism lost the 



Elizabeth 



245 



moderate and conservative character which Luther gave it, 
and became aggressive and vital. On the other hand, the 
Church of Rome was undergoing a change. It had at last 
learned that the Protestants must be fought with their own 




Elizabeth 

the Ermine portrait " at Hatfield House, painted by Zucchero 



weapons, that revolution could be arrested only by reform, 
and the Council of Trent was working out a comprehensive 
scheme for the purification of the Church. 



246 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



The 

Counter- 
Reforma- 
tion. 



Creighton, 
Age of 
Elizabeth, 
PP- 153-155- 



Green, 
pp. 369-376. 



The Counter-Reformation, as this movement within the 
Roman Church was called, represented a real reform, and 
hence it was strong. The chief instrument of a purified 
Papacy in the task of winning back Christendom to the 
ancient faith was the Society of Jesus, founded in 1540 by 
Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish knight. The Jesuits showed un- 
tiring zeal and devotion in their work of combating heresy 
and heathenism, and the broken ranks of the Catholics 
were slowly filling up. The union of France and Spain in 
support of the Papacy at this time would have made the 
Counter-Reformation irresistible. Protestantism was saved 
by the political jealousies of the two great Catholic powers. 
As it was, in Italy and in Spain all Protestant beginnings were 
destroyed. In France, the Netherlands, and Scotland, how- 
ever, the followers of Calvin were numerous and influential, 
and their spirit was ardent and determined. 

Elizabeth, 1 558-1 603. — The situation that confronted 
Elizabeth was one to daunt the stoutest heart. The pope 
refused to recognize her title to the crown, England was at 
war with France, and the danger from that quarter was in- 
creased by the close connection between the French and 
Scottish governments. The treasury was empty, the coinage 
was in confusion, industrial conditions were disturbed. 
England stood alone. It is true that Philip of Spain offered 
an alliance, even proposing marriage with Elizabeth, but 
religious as well as political considerations made such a 
union impossible. 

The danger and difficulty of Elizabeth's position were 
greatly increased by the deepening religious divisions 
among the people. The bulk of the nation longed for 
peace, and might have agreed to a return to the ecclesiasti- 
cal system of Henry VIII, but religious strife had passed 
beyond the point of reconciliation. The Catholic party 
was bent on maintaining the connection with Rome. On 
the other hand, persecution had rendered fierce and uncom- 
promising the temper of the Protestants, and their cause 
was greatly strengthened by the return of the many exiles 



ElizabctJis Foreign Policy 



247 



filled with Calvinistic ideas imbibed abroad. It was diffi- 
cult to devise an ecclesiastical policy which would find 
general acceptance, and it was certain that a foreign policy 
which meant either a Protestant or a Catholic alliance would 
at once precipitate religious strife at home. The union of 
France and Spain at this time would have been fatal to 
English independence, and it was not impossible that 
religious considerations would vanquish political jealousies 




Autograph of Elizabeth 

Marck, Konigin Elizabeth 

and bring about an alliance between the two great Catholic 
powers in the interests of Rome. 

Elizabeth's Foreign Policy. — The policy which Elizabeth 
adopted in foreign affairs was cautious and temporizing. 
She saw that peace was what England needed above all 
things. " No war, my lords, no war," was her often re- 
peated warning at the council board. Philip's marriage 
offers were rejected, although in carefully courteous terms, 
and the war with France was quickly brought to a close by Elizabeth 
the final abandonment of Calais. Henceforth, if Elizabeth p ' 4S ' 
could have her way, England would be kept free from 
continental entanglements. Independence and peace were 
to be secured by playing off one foreign power against 
another. France and Spain were to be held in check by 



Bright, II, 
pp. 488-490. 
Creighton, 
Age of 



248 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Bright, II, 

492-494. 495- 

Green, 

PP- 376-379- 

Creighton, 

Age of 

Elizabeth, 

pp. 46-49. 

Acts of 

Supremacy 

and 

Uniformity, 

1559- 



the fear which each had of driving England into union with 
the rival power. There were to be no close alliances. 
Assistance was to be given only where necessary to maintain 
that balance in Europe which alone seemed to afford 
security. To this course Elizabeth, with the counsel and 
guidance of her great minister, William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, 
steadily held England during the next thirty years. 

Elizabeth's Ecclesiastical Policy. — Elizabeth met the 
religious question by compromise. Personally she had 
little sympathy with either of the extreme parties. Protes- 
tant contempt for authority and tradition was distasteful 
to her. Subjection to Rome was impossible, for that would 
have meant to stamp her birth as illegitimate. Moreover, as a 
Tudor she was unwilling to resign her authority over the 
Church. But she approached all religious questions in the 
temper of the politician. She saw that the convinced 
Protestants were her surest support, that her cause was 
theirs. But on the other hand she knew that severe 
measures against the Catholics would open the way to 
foreign intrigue. 

National unity in Church and State under the control of 
the crown was the aim of her home policy, and to this end 
a religious settlement was devised which would win the 
support of the moderates and drive no one to extreme 
measures. By the Act of Supremacy of 1559, the connec- 
tion with Rome was finally broken. At the same time mass 
was abolished, and an x^ct of Uniformity decreed the use of 
King Edward's prayer book. The oath of supremacy was 
rigorously exacted from ecclesiastics. Of the fifteen surviv- 
ing bishops of Mary's reign, fourteen preferred deprivation 
to compliance, but the parish clergy were more yielding, 
and less than two hundred out of nine thousand remained 
true to Rome. 

By a large portion of the nation, the Elizabethan settle- 
ment was accepted as a wise and moderate solution 
of the religious issue. Toward those who were not 
content with what had been done, leniency was shown. 



Scotland and Mary Stuart 249 

The Act of Uniformity was not rigidly enforced. The 
queen feared above all things the renewal of strife ; she 
discouraged preaching and she would gladly have seen an 
abatement of interest in religious questions. There was 
little excitement ; changes were quietly made, and yet 
within a year after Elizabeth's accession, England, in the 
face of the Counter-Reformation, had ranged herself once 
for all on the side of Protestantism. 

Scotland and Mary Stuart. — England's immediate danger 
was from Scotland. On the death of Mary Tudor, the 
young Scottish queen, now Dauphiness of France, refused 
to acknowledge Elizabeth as legitimate, and assumed, as 
next in succession, the title of Queen of England. The 
strength of her claim lay in the certain support of France 
and the English Catholics. 

More than two centuries had elapsed since Scotland Green, 
attained independence of England. Scotch history during J ° 2 

the interval was a confused tale of anarchy and misery. 
Progress was slow. Border warfare was almost continuous, 
and the baronage retained its feudal and military character. 
The country was wasted by the strife of rival families, the 
common people were oppressed and degraded, and there 
was little culture or industry outside the few towns. In 
1556 the population was barely 600,000. A strong monarchy 
seemed the only hope of the country, but since Flodden 
Field the power of the crown had been weakened by two 
long minorities. 1 

Scotland had now come under influences which were Creighton, 
to transform the national character. In the sixteenth cen- A J?f. °f. ,. 

Elizabeth, 

tury the Scottish Church was in much the same condition as pp. 55-61. 
the Church in England, wealthy, self-seeking, and without 
spiritual influence. While Henry VIII exercised an in- 
fluence in Scottish counsels, it seemed possible that the 
Reformation might be brought about by royal authority, 
but James V decided for France and for Catholicism. 

1 In 1513 James V became king at the age of two years. At his death in 
1542 he was succeeded by the infant Mary Stuart. 



250 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



When the Reformation finally came, it was a national and 
popular movement. 

During the disorders of the regency of Mary of Guise, the 
reformed doctrines spread rapidly. The Church was in close 
alliance with the crown, and Protestantism came to be iden- 
tified with a growing dislike to French dominion. In 1557 




The 

Covenant, 

1557- 



HOLYROOD 
Marck, Konigin Elizabeth 

all who favored the new doctrine bound themselves together 
by a covenant or pledge to work for reform. Two years 
later, the Lords of the Congregation, as the leaders of the 
Covenanters were called, rose in rebellion against the 
established order, the Roman Catholic Church was over- 
thrown, and the French connection repudiated. An army 
was sent from France to aid the regent, and Protestantism 
in Scotland might have been crushed at the outset had not 
England been drawn into the contest. Now, as always, 



Scotland and Mary Stuart 251 

Elizabeth was loath to countenance rebellion, but she saw 

clearly the danger to England from French interference 

in Scotland. Aid was sent to the Lords of the Congregation, 

and before the close of 1560 the French had been expelled. 

By the treaty of Edinburgh, Elizabeth's title to the English EdintourSi 

crown was recognized. 1560. 

The triumph of the Reformation in Scotland meant social 
and moral as well as eccesiastical revolution. Under the 
leadership of John Knox, the Church was organized in ac- 
cordance with the views of Calvin on a republican and Pres- 
byterian basis. Through their earnest, self-sacrificing spirit, 
the Reformed clergy came to wield great influence in Scot- 
land. They set to work to reform society, training the peo- 
ple in religion, in morals, and in politics. Under their stern 
rule the national character was disciplined and elevated. 

In 1559 Francis, the husband of Mary Stuart, suddenly 
died. There was no place in France for his widow, and 



M'<(> 



Autograph of Mary Stuart 

Marck, Kdnigin Elizabeth 

after an absence of many years Mary returned to her own 
kingdom of Scotland. The queen was a mere girl of eigh- Creighton, 
teen, but she combined womanly grace and beauty with 4ff "/ 
masculine vigor of mind and body. Her subjects received 
their young sovereign with enthusiasm. Although the Green, 
change from the most brilliant court of Europe to the rude pp- 3 82 -3 8 4 
surroundings and rough independent ways of the Scottish 
court was great, Mary adapted herself skilfully to her new 
home. For a time all discord was silenced by her tactful 
diplomacy and personal fascination. She united the nobles 
in her support and settled the religious question by acknowl- 
edging the Calvinist establishment. These measures were, 



Elizabeth, 
pp. 62-66. 



252 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Source-Book, 
PP- 155-159- 



Marriage of 
Mary and 
Darnley, 
1565- 



Creighton, 
Age of 
Elizabeth, 
pp. 76^79. 



Overthrow 
of Mary, 
1568. 

Source-Book, 
pp. 161-168. 



however, but steps toward the attainment of the real end of 
her policy. An attempt to induce Elizabeth to recognize 
her as next in succession having failed, she then sought to 
organize a Catholic combination which would place her on 
the English throne. 

In 1565 Mary made a political marriage with her cousin, 
Lord Henry Darnley. Darnley was a Catholic and, like 
Mary, was descended from Margaret Tudor. Elizabeth felt 
this act to be open menace, but she was powerless to inter- 
fere. Unfortunately for Mary's plans, the achievements of 
her diplomacy were speedily undone by the ungoverned pas- 
sions of her nature. Darnley was a miserable creature, ill 
fitted for such a wife. Anxious to increase his importance, 
he allied himself with the Protestant party among the nobles. 
At his instigation Rizzio, the queen's friend and secretary, 
of whose influence he was jealous, was slain almost before her 
eyes. Early in 1567 Darnley was murdered at Kirk o' Field, 
a lonely house near Edinburgh. Mary's part in the affair is 
doubtful, but at any rate she did not hesitate to marry within 
three months the man generally held to be responsible for 
Darnley's death. Brutal and self-seeking though he was, 
the Earl of Bothwell had succeeded in winning Mary's pas- 
sionate devotion, and for his sake she threw away reputation 
and kingdom. She had ruined her position with the Catholics, 
for Bothwell was a Protestant, her subjects were filled with 
horror at her act, and when the nobles, jealous of BothwelFs 
power, rose against the queen, the people refused to come 
to her assistance. Within a month of the ill-omened mar- 
riage, Bothwell had been driven into exile, and Mary was a 
prisoner in her own castle at Edinburgh. Before the end 
of 1568 she had abdicated in favor of her infant son and had 
fled to England to throw herself on the mercy of Elizabeth. 
It was not an easy situation for the English government to 
face. To replace her by force upon the Scottish throne was 
out of the question, nor did it seem wise to let her go to 
France to become an instrument of the Catholic party. 
The difficulty was met by holding her a prisoner in England. 



Foreign Affairs 



253 



With the overthrow of Mary Stuart all danger from Scot- 
land passed away. The alliance with France was broken j 
Mary's son, James VI, was crowned at Stirling (1567), and 
under the guidance of Regent Murray, the young king's 
uncle, Scotland became definitely a Protestant power. 




Elizabeth, 
pp. 107-110, 
114-117. 



Stirling Castle 

Foreign Affairs. — On the Continent conditions had Creightc 
changed. France, torn by political and religious strife, was A S eo f 
no longer a menace to England. Catherine de' Medici, the 
queen mother and actual ruler, feared the power and ambi- 
tion of the house of Guise, a branch of the royal line. 
This division among the Catholics enabled the Huguenots or Divisions in 
reformed party to make great headway in spite of the oppo- France> 
sition of the government. The Guises were supported by 
Philip of Spain, and under these conditions France sought 
the support of England. The French alliance was the 



254 The Tudors and the Reformation 

foundation of Elizabeth's foreign policy during the middle 
part of her reign. It was only temporarily interrupted by 
the terrible massacre of the Huguenots at the order of the 
French government in 1572. Elizabeth even went so far as 
seriously to entertain the idea of marrying one of the sons 
of Catherine de' Medici. Negotiations concerning the Duke 
of Anjou, and later, the Duke of Alencon, were carried on 
for some time, but came to nothing. 

The good understanding between France and England 
Creighton, imposed a check upon Spain. Moreover, Philip's efforts to 
Age of root out Protestantism throughout his dominions had resulted 

pp.V-97.' m tne revo ^ °f tne Netherlands in 1568. The ruthless 
110-113, 118- measures of Alva, the Spanish general, only made the Dutch 

* 2 °' , more determined, and under the leadership of William of 
Revolt of the n ' ,. . l r 

Netherlands, Orange, the movement to secure religious freedom was 

1568. gradually converted to an attempt to throw off the rule of 

Spain. With all his resources, Philip was unable to crush 
the insurrection, and it was clear that interference from 
England would insure his defeat. 

Thus Elizabeth was mistress of the situation. Danger 
from France could always be averted by strengthening the 
Huguenots. The possibility of an alliance between Eng- 
land and his Dutch subjects served to hold Philip in 
check. 
Source-Book, Some of the royal ministers and a large party in the nation 
pp. 169-172. were opposed to this opportunist policy. They desired that 
Elizabeth should commit herself to the Protestant cause, by 
frankly taking sides with the French Huguenots and the re- 
volted Netherlanders. Moreover, they felt that the safety 
of England required the queen's marriage with a Protestant 
and the settlement of the succession. To such a course 
Elizabeth was steadily opposed. She preferred the tortuous 
methods of diplomacy to open, direct dealings. Policy for- 
bade her to wed the only suitor for whom she cared, the 
Earl of Leicester, one of her own subjects. Moreover, she 
realized that her marriage with a Protestant would at once 
precipitate a crisis by making the Catholics desperate. 



256 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Thirty-nine 
Articles. 



Test Act, 
1562. 



Green, 

PP- 389-392. 



Catholic 
plots. 



Creighton, 
Age of 
Elizabeth, 
pp. 126-130. 
Bright, II, 
567-569- 



The 
Puritans. 



Enforcement of Uniformity. — At first Elizabeth had 
moved cautiously in her ecclesiastical policy, but the men- 
acing attitude of the Catholic powers led to increased 
rigor toward the English Romanists. In 1563, acceptance 
of thirty-nine of the forty-two articles promulgated under 
Edward VI was demanded of the clergy. The Act of Uni- 
formity was more stringently enforced, and by the Test Act 
of 1562, the first in a long series of penal statutes against 
the Catholics, the oath of supremacy was required of all 
members of the House of Commons. 

About 1569 the Catholic resistance came to a head. The 
failure of Mary Stuart in Scotland and the backwardness of 
the great orthodox powers helped to throw matters into 
the hands of the people. In 1569 the Earls of Westmore- 
land and Northumberland formed a plot to put Mary Stuart 
in Elizabeth's place and to restore Catholicism. Their 
scheme found support in the north, but the rising was easily 
quelled. In 1570 the Pope issued a bull excommunicating 
Elizabeth, and two years later a new conspiracy against the 
queen was hatched. The object of the Ridolfi plot was, as 
before, the overthrow of Elizabeth and Protestantism. It 
was discovered in time by Cecil's spies, and the leading 
Catholic noble, the Duke of Norfolk, who, in case of suc- 
cess, was to have married Mary Stuart, was put to death. 

Religious disturbance was not all from the Catholic party. 
Many of the people felt that the queen had not gone far 
enough in the reform of the Church. They had no thought 
of separating from the establishment, and at first there was 
little objection to Episcopacy, but they desired greater sim- 
plicity of worship and a preaching ministry. The strict en- 
forcement of the Act of Uniformity after 1565 forced the 
Puritans, as they were called, into forming a definite party, 
and led to attempts on their part to establish their own 
meetings outside the Church. But they found no favor with 
the government. Their conventicles were suppressed, and 
the " prophesyings " or meetings of the Puritan clergy were 
prohibited. The bishops were the chief instrument through 



The Crisis of the Reign 257 

which the government acted, and there grew up in conse- 
quence a feeling of hostility to Episcopacy, which was 
strengthened by the growth of Presbyterianism in Scotland. 
In 15 7 1, Cartwright, Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, Green, 
in two addresses to Parliament, attacked the episcopal PP- 467-469- 
organization as well as the prayer book ceremonial. The 
Puritans were not representative of the nation as a whole, Greeni 
but they were intelligent and active, and they exerted an pp. 460-464. 
influence out of proportion to their numbers. 

The Crisis of the Reign. — For more than thirty years 
Elizabeth succeeded in keeping peace, and while other 
countries were wasted by war or torn with religious strife, 
England grew prosperous and strong. War had been so 
long averted only because Philip II, no less than Elizabeth, Green, 
was a sincere lover of peace. Fear of France, the financial pp- 4 II -4 I 5- 
straits of Spain, his own inclinations, all led him to avoid source-Book, 
war. Spanish ships were plundered on every sea by Eng- pp. 184, 185. 
lish privateers, England gave aid and sympathy to the 
Dutch and opened her doors to the religious refugees ; still 
the Spanish king's instructions to his ambassadors were to 
strive to preserve Elizabeth's friendship. 

But circumstances were gradually forcing the two coun- Creighton, 
tries into war. The Papacy was becoming aggressive. In A ^ t °{ th 
1579 an attempt was made to strike a blow at England pp.^-^s. 
through Ireland, where the people were Catholic and dis- Green, 
affected. A little later it became plain that influences were pp- 405-410- 
at work to build up a Catholic party in Scotland. A well- 
organized plan was at length developed for the reconversion 
of England. In 1580 two Jesuit missionaries landed in 
England, and others soon followed. In various disguises 
they wandered about the country, reviving the zeal of the 
Catholic party. Their success was great, and there seemed 
to be danger that they might undo all that had been gained 
by Elizabeth's policy of compromise. Persecution was re- 
newed. Jesuits were made liable to the penalties of treason, 
and all harboring them were declared rebels. Catholics 
were commanded to recall their children from the Continent. 



The Crisis of the Reigji 259 

The fines for recusancy l were increased to ^20 a month. 
In 1584 a Catholic plot to remove Elizabeth by assassina- 
tion and put Mary in her place, was discovered. The Creighton, 
reality of the danger that threatened the queen was shown A s\ ■ °f 
by the murder of William of Orange, in this same year. ^7 5 ?-i6o 
The Catholics stood now in open hostility. Still Elizabeth 
was unwilling to throw in her lot decidedly with the Protes- 
tants of the Continent, and in 1585 she refused to accept the 
sovereignty of the Dutch States. 

On the Continent the course of affairs was turning against Creighton. 
the reformers. In 1584, by the death of the Duke of A /. e ff , 
Alengon, Henry of Navarre, head of the Huguenots, became P p.~i6i-i66. 
heir to the French crown. The extreme Catholic element, 
led by the Guises, at once took alarm, and formed an alli- 
ance with Spain with the avowed object of excluding Prot- 
estants from the French throne and extirpating Protestantism 
throughout Spanish and French territory. When Henry III, 
the French king, finally decided to throw in his lot with 
the League, 2 the fate of the Huguenots seemed sealed. 

At the same time the position of the Netherlanders was 
becoming desperate. Everywhere the Spanish, under Parma, 
the greatest general of the century, were gaining ground. 
Unless Elizabeth would see the Dutch revolt crushed she 
must send aid. In 1585 English troops under Leicester 
landed in Holland. 

Elizabeth was no longer mistress of the situation, and her Green, 
peace policy was breaking down. Her own subjects were pp - 4 I 5-4 I 7- 
forcing her hand ; they longed " to have a good, severe, open 
war with Spain, as the only road to an honorable settle- 
ment." The discovery at this juncture of Babington's 
conspiracy, a formidable plot organized by some of the 
Catholics to assassinate Elizabeth and place Mary Stuart on 
the throne, forced the government to act with decision and 
sealed the fate of the queen of Scots. For eighteen years 

1 Recusants were those who refused to attend the services of the Estab- 
lished Church. 

2 The alliance between the Guises and Spain was known as the League. 



26o 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Execution of 
Mary 
Stuart, 1587. 

Source-Book, 
pp. 173-178. 

Creighton, 
Age of 
Elizabeth, 
pp. 172-180. 
Green, 
pp. 417-420. 
Froude, Hist, 
of England, 
ch. XXXVI. 

Source-Book, 
pp. 178-184. 



Green, 
pp. 446-451 



Source-Book, 
pp. 186-188. 



Mary had been held a prisoner in England, the centre oi 
Catholic intrigue. It was now urged that the only way of 
saving Elizabeth's life was to destroy the woman whose con- 
tinued existence gave encouragement to plans of assassina- 
tion. With unfeigned reluctance Elizabeth signed the death 
warrant, and on February 8, 1587, Mary was beheaded. 

The Armada. — Mary's death made it possible for England 
to meet Spain with a united front. For some time Philip 
had been planning an invasion of England. In 1588 the 
preparations were complete, and the " Invincible Armada," 
a fleet of over one hundred and fifty vessels, set sail for the 
English coast. With her usual parsimony and dilatoriness, 
Elizabeth had delayed taking measures for defence. The 
royal navy contained but thirty-eight ships all told, most of 
them small and ill equipped. But private enterprise made 
good the royal shortcomings, and the men of every port 
sent their best ships well manned to fight the Spaniards. 
The great enterprise ended in disaster. Parma and his 
troops from the Netherlands failed to effect a union with 
the fleet. The superior seamanship of the English made it 
possible for them to harass and destroy many of the Span- 
ish ships while avoiding the general engagement which they 
dared not risk. A terrible storm rendered unmanageable 
the unwieldy galleons of the Spaniards, and they were driven 
upon unfriendly coasts and lost. Of the great fleet but 
fifty-four ships lived to return to Spain. England's danger 
was averted. 

Ireland under the Tudors. — In the reign of Elizabeth the 
conquest of Ireland was at last made real. For more than 
three centuries England had held nominal sway over the sister 
island, but outside the Pale English authority was scarcely 
recognized. The Irish had even regained part of the terri- 
tory that they had lost. The English government was too 
poor and too weak to effect a real conquest, and it strove to 
control Ireland through the influence of some native chief. 
During a short period of quiet in the reign of Henry VII, 
Sir Edward Poyning was sent over to negotiate a settlement, 



262 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



Green, 

pp. 451-454. 



Green, 

pp. 454-458- 



The 
Plantations. 



and he succeeded in inducing the Irish Parliament to pass 
an act called Poyning's Law, by which its legislative de- 
pendence upon the king of England and his council was 
acknowledged. 

The progress of the Reformation in England increased 
the difficulties of the Irish situation. Protestantism had 
made no headway in Ireland, but Henry VIII had used 
tact in his dealings with the Irish chiefs, and the Royal 
Supremacy was generally acknowledged. Under Edward 
VI the reformed Church was established by law, but 
nothing was done to educate the people in the reformed 
faith. The Bible was not translated into the native tongue, 
and the services were read in English. Under Elizabeth 
the same course was pursued. The result was to connect 
Protestantism with an alien and hated rule and to attach 
the Irish strongly to the ancient Church. 

Unfortunately a new cause for trouble appeared at this 
time. The plan of conquering Ireland by colonizing dis- 
affected districts with English settlers was first tried under 
Mary, and the idea was eagerly caught up by the adventur- 
ous, money-getting spirit of the next reign. An insurrection 
among the native Irish of Ulster in 1565 forced the English 
government to turn its attention seriously to the problem of 
pacifying the country. The rebellion of Shane O'Neill was 
easily suppressed, but it led to the formation of plans for 
the planting of Munster with English settlers. Fear of 
being driven from the land roused the Irish to fury. A 
succession of insurrections in Munster, Ulster, and Con- 
naught followed. The interference of the Catholic powers 
of the Continent increased the danger of the situation, and 
it was not until 1584, after fifteen years of warfare marked 
by terrible atrocities on both sides, that the English authority 
was reestablished and order restored. 

But the grounds for discontent were too deep rooted to 
be easily removed. Race hostility combined with religious 
feeling and fear for their lands to keep disaffection alive 
among the Irish. In 1597 the O'Neills, led by the Earl of 



Close of Elizabeth 's Reign 263 

Tyrone, broke out in revolt. The Earl of Essex, Leicester's Tyrone's 
stepson, was sent over with a large army, but his expedition reDellion - 
was a failure. The Spanish came to Tyrone's aid, and it was 
not until 1602 that the rebellion was crushed. The conquest 
of Ireland seemed at last complete. The leaders had been 
cut off, every rising had been followed by confiscations, and 
half the gentry had been dispossessed. The land was deso- 
late and the people were filled with bitterest hatred toward 
the English. 

Close of Elizabeth's Reign. — The destruction of the Ar- 
mada was the turning-point in Elizabeth's reign. One by one 
the dangers which beset her when she ascended the throne 
had cleared away. Although the war with Spain still dragged 
on, there was no fear of a second invasion. In 1593 Henry 
of Navarre, the Huguenot leader, became king of France. 
In Scotland, James VI was looking forward hopefully to 
succeed Elizabeth on the throne and guided his course in 
accordance with her wishes. 

Domestic dangers had been overcome by the queen's mod- Bright, II, 
eration and by her broad, national treatment of the religious s69, 57a 
question. At the time of the Armada, patriotic feeling 
triumphed and the Catholics remained loyal, refusing to take 
advantage of the difficulties of the government. Many of 
them found their way into the Anglican Church and formed 
the nucleus of the High Church party of the next reign. The 
queen persisted in refusing all concessions to the Puritans. Green, 
The Court of High Commission, permanently organized in p P- 470-474- 
1583 to exercise the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the crown, 
took severe measures to repress nonconformity. It was 
impossible, however, to put down the Puritans. They were 
a strong element in the House of Commons and found sup- 
port even in the Privy Council. Persecution only increased 
their activity. A vigorous pamphlet war was carried on 
against what they held to be abuses in the Church. 1 Some 
of the extreme Protestants carried their views so far as to 

1 A series of tracts, signed Martin Marprelate, attacked the bishops 
violently, causing great excitement. 



264 



The Tudors and the Reformation 



The Inde- 
pendents. 



Green, 

pp. 401-405. 



Political 
Orations, 
Camelot 
Series. 



Creighton, 
Age ot 
Elizabeth, 
pp. 228, 229. 



separate from the Church, and form the Brownist or Inde- 
pendent sect ; but in the main, although desirous of certain 
changes, they supported the Episcopal establishment. 

In political matters, a good understanding existed between 
the queen and her subjects. The administration was eco- 
nomical ; Parliament responded cheerfully, as a rule, to the 
royal demands for supplies. In 1601 an attack was made 
on the assumed power of the crown to grant monopolies. 1 
This was an important source of revenue, but the House 
made a determined stand, and the queen gave way with 
dignity. It was plain that a spirit of independence was 
growing. Parliament, at the close of the century, was a 
very different body from the Parliament that Henry VIII 
had used to carry out his will under constitutional forms. 
The Upper House had gained by the substitution of a lay 
for a spiritual majority after the dissolution of the monas- 
teries, yet the new nobility, of which it was largely com- 
posed, was still subservient to the crown and rarely opposed 
the royal will, — but in the House of Commons there was 
great change. Constant employment in important business, 
even though as a tool, had given it experience and confidence. 
A powerful middle class, wealthy, intelligent, and trained in 
the conduct of local affairs, had sprung up in the towns and 
in the country, and now formed the strongest element in 
the Lower House. Lawyers had become numerous and 
influential. Puritan feeling, the new spirit of enterprise, 
increased foreign intercourse, all combined to give the 
Commons a bolder temper and greater breadth of view. 2 
The discipline of a century was bearing fruit. 

In 1603 the old queen died. With masculine intellect 
and womanly devotion she had labored in the service of the 

1 The exclusive right of trading in some article of commerce. 

2 Until the sixteenth century local residence was required of shire and 
borough representatives. Under the Tudors this requirement was con- 
stantly evaded, and was repealed in 1571 as regards burgesses. This 
change had the effect of bringing into Parliament a more independent and 
intelligent class of men. During this century the practice of paying mem- 
bers died out. 



Close of Elizabeth 's Reign 265 

nation, sacrificing personal happiness to its interests, and 
she spoke from the heart in her last words to the Commons : 
" Though you have had, and may have many princes Green, 
more mighty and wise sitting in this seat, yet you never PP- 453,459- 
had, or ever shall have, any that will be more careful and 
loving." Under Elizabeth the power of the Tudor mon- 
archy reached its height. Her rule was a national rule, for 
what was true of Henry VIII was even truer of his great 
daughter. The strength of the throne lay not in wealth or 
force, but in the national support given because of the 
people's confidence in their ruler. 




Elizabeth's Cradle 

Winter, Shakespeare's England 

Important Events 

Reign of Henry VII, 1 485-1 509. 
Alliance with Scotland, 1503. 

Reign of Henry VIII, 1 509-1 547. 
War with France, 15 12-15 14. 
Fall of Wolsey, 1529. 

Long Parliament of the Reformation, 1 529-1 536. 
Marriage with Anne Boleyn, 1533. 
Separation from Rome, 1534. 
The Six Articles, 1539. 
Fall of Cromwell, 1 540. 



266 The Tudors and the Reformation 

Reign of Edward VI, 1547—1553. 

War with Scotland, 1547. 
Overthrow of Somerset, 1549. 

Reign of Mary, 15 53-1 558. 
Marriage with Philip, 1554. 
Reunion with Rome, 1554. 
Beginning of persecution, 1555. 
Loss of Calais, 1558. 

Reign of Elizabeth, 1 558-1603. 

Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, 1559. 
Overthrow of Mary Stuart, 1567. 
Foundation of the United Netherlands, 1572. 
Massacre of St. Bartholomew, 1572. 
Arrival of Jesuits, 1580. 
Execution of Mary Stuart, 1587. 
Defeat of the Armada, 1588. 



Chief Contemporaries 267 









I 



S 



S I "4 1 I 



I g I I 



§ -6 "H* * 

3 B B > - 5 



I 



r T! T3 

s 1 1 

W Cd S 



■Q 



CHAPTER IX 

ENGLAND OF THE TUDORS 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 

Harrison, Description of England. 
More, Utopia. 

Payne, Voyages of Elizabethan Seamen. 
Henderson, Sidelights, etc. 

Special Authorities 

Cunningham, Alien Immigrants to England. 

Thorold Rogers, Six Centuries of Work and Wages. 

Cunningham and MacArthur, Outlines of English Industrial History. 

Hevvins, English Trade and Finance. 

Innes, England under the Tudors. 

Froude, History of England, Vol. I, Ch. I ; English Seamen. 

Seeley, Expansion of England. 

Traill, Social England, II and III. 

Corbett, Drake. 

Creighton, Sir Walter Raleigh. 

Imaginative Literature 
Kingsley, Westward Ho.' 

The Transformation of England. — Modern England, a 
great maritime, commercial, and industrial power, began to 
take shape under the Tudors. Social and economic condi- 
tions were changing, the old mediaeval industrial system was 
breaking up, and trade and commerce, animated by a 
keener and bolder spirit, sought out new channels of enter- 
prise. In the fifteenth century England was still in the 
main an agricultural country ; wheat and wool were her 
268 



change. 



The Transformation of England 269 

staple crops, and she bore to Flanders the relation that 
Australia now bears to the mother country. By 1600 wool 
was forbidden to be sent abroad, and woollen cloth had be- 
come an important article of export. 1 

When the first Tudor ascended the throne, a royal navy 
scarcely existed, and much of England's carrying trade 
was in the hands of foreigners. The defeat of the Armada 
in the reign of Elizabeth paved the way for the ultimate 
maritime and commercial supremacy of England. Fore- Causes for 
most amongst the causes for these changes was the dis- 
covery of the New World. Trade with America became 
important, and England's position to the west of Europe 
gave her at once a superiority over all rivals. The reli- 
gious conflicts of the Continent, resulting as they did in 
the disturbance of trade and industry there, redounded 
greatly to England's advantage. ,The order and peace 
of England under Tudor rule attracted capital, and the 
greater liberty of worship brought to her shores religious 
refugees, who enriched the kingdom with their industry 
and skill. 

Nor should the effect of the policy of the crown be 
overlooked. The Tudor rule was despotic, but it was at 
least paternal. The statute books of the century testify 
to the unwearying interest of the government in the 
welfare of the people and in the development of 
national wealth. No aspect of industry was overlooked. 
Agriculture, commerce, manufacture, each received atten- 
tion. Encouragement was given to new enterprises, efforts 
were made to stimulate decaying industries. Exports 
and imports were regulated, prices were fixed, and the 
character and quality of goods to be manufactured were 
prescribed. Wages were determined by law and the con- 
ditions of service settled by the government in minute 
detail. The records of the first session of Elizabeth's 
second Parliament illustrate the all-pervading activity of 

1 Exportation of woollen cloth amounted to 5000 pieces in 1354, to 
120,000 pieces in 1547. 



270 



England of the Tudors 



the State. On the same page stand acts for the encourage- 
ment of tillage, for the regulation of artificers, laborers, and 
apprentices, for the maintenance of the navy and fisheries, for 
the exclusion of divers foreign wares, and against the carrying 
of sheepskins and pelts out of the kingdom. Everywhere 
the State interfered to direct individual enterprise. 

The Agricultural Revolution. — In the latter part of 




Traill, II, 

544-S5o; 

III, 

114-118, 

239-241, 

351-359, 

533-535- 



Sour i 



-193. 



Old London Bridge 

Marck, Konigin Elizabeth 

the fifteenth century sheep-raising had become very prof- 
itable, because of the great demand for English wool 
and the high prices paid for it. There resulted a strong 
tendency to the formation of great sheep farms, and 
estates were rapidly converted from tillage to pasture. 
As land became increasingly valuable the commons were 
enclosed, and the open fields, the arable lands tilled by 
the villagers, were not infrequently seized by the lord 
under a strained interpretation of his property rights. 



Action of the Government 271 

Evictions of the peasants became frequent ; houses, whole Bright, II, 

villages even, were torn down, and the fields were turned 47°. 47*- 

into sheepwalks. The report of a royal Commission 

of Inquiry in 15 17 gave many instances of villages made Enclosures. 

desolate. " All the houses of Burton Lazars in the 

same vill (Choysell) are laid waste, and the inhabitants 

have departed ; and there belong to the same houses 

300 acres of land, whereof 40 are ploughed, but the 

rest are in pasture ; and by this downfall, the church 

has fallen into ruins." 

Effect upon Agricultural Classes. — These changes brought 
profit to the landlords and to yeomen holding land in their 
own right, but they entailed great suffering on the cottagers 
and small tenant farmers. Rents were raised and at the 
same time the rights of common pasture were cut off. 
Moreover, work became scarce, for one man was now em- 
ployed where formerly the labor of many was required. 
" For whereas," wrote Latimer, " have been a great many 
householders and inhabitants, there is now but a shepherd 
and his dog." Sir Thomas More, in his Utopia, voiced the 
popular grievance : " Sheep," he declared, " become so 
great devourers and so wild that they eat up and swallow 
down the very men themselves. They consume, destroy, 
and devour whole fields, houses, and citizens." The 
small holders were ruined, and many of them became 
homeless wanderers, swelling the ranks of paupers and 
vagabonds. 

Action of the Government. — The government recog- Legislation, 
nized the evil of this state of things and -strove to meet 
it by legislation. It was decreed that no man should 
keep more than two thousand sheep, and at the disso- 
lution of the monasteries a statute was passed requiring 
the new owners to " occupy yearly as much of the same 
demesnes in ploughing and tillage of husbandry ... as 
hath been commonly used." But these measures availed 
little, and as late as 1597 Parliament was still legislat- 
ing against enclosures. The money-making spirit of the 



272 



England of the Tudors 



age was too strong to be controlled. By fraud and petty- 
persecution the small men were driven off the land. It 
was a common practice to run a single furrow over a field 
and then declare it ploughed. Hales, a contemporary 
writer, speaks of men "fathering sheep on children and 
servants," thus keeping within the limit of the law. The 




View in Great Friar's Street, Worcester 

Britton, Picturesque Antiquities of the English Cities 



evil continued until the beginning of the next century, when 
the diminished value of wool and the high prices of meat 
and grain brought about a change and led to the conver- 
sion of pasture lands back to tillage. 

The Decay of Towns. — Not alone in the country were 
great changes taking place. Side by side with laws which 
point to the miserable condition of the rural population 
are others that would seem to indicate the decay of industry 



TJie Decay of Towns 273 

and trade and the impoverishment of the towns. Many 
anciently important places lost in population and wealth 
during this period. 

The decay of towns was chiefly due to the ill-judged 
monopoly of the gilds, which discouraged new enterprises 
in the districts they controlled. The usefulness of the gild 
system was gone; it no longer served its original purpose, 
since the societies had become narrow corporations. Mem- The Gilds, 
bership was restricted to the sons of members or to such 
outsiders as could pay heavily for the privilege, hence it 
was no longer possible for the average journeyman to be- 
come a master craftsman. The general policy of the gov- 
ernment was to strengthen the gilds while bringing them 
under local control, but the increasing activity of trade 
was inconsistent with the antiquated regulations, and labor 
and capital turned to the rural districts and to towns where 
the old system of restriction had never been authorized. 
Thus while old centres of industry fell into decay, new vil- 
lages, such as Manchester and Sheffield and Birmingham, 
were becoming rich and important. 

Growth of Manufactures. — Manufactures steadily gained 
in importance under the Tudors. The government was 
unremitting in its endeavors to promote an interest so Protection, 
favorable to national prosperity, and did what it could 
to foster domestic industry. The export of materials that 
could be manufactured at home was forbidden and the con- 
sumption of English goods was enforced by statute. In 
the reign of Elizabeth it was enacted that every person, 
except ladies, peers, and a few others, should " on Sundays 
and Holidays wear on their Head a Cap of Wool made in 
England." 

The manufacturing interest owed less, however, to legis- 
lation than to the steady hospitality which the government 
extended to the persecuted of other lands. In the latter 
part of the reign of Henry VIII there began an immigra- Immigra- 
tion of religious refugees which continued for more than a 
century and a half. These refugees, who came chiefly from 



tion. 



274 England of the Tudors 

France and the Netherlands, were usually skilled workmen, 
and they introduced many new and important industries, 
such as the making of lace, thread, needles, paper, fustian, 
and silk. The foreign craftsmen were most numerous in 
the eastern counties, but they settled in many parts of the 
country. They sometimes took possession of abandoned 
monastic buildings. About 1544 Flemings and Walloons 
swarmed into England and established at Norwich the silk 
industry, the source of the later prosperity of that region. 
Sheffield owed the great improvement in its cutlery to the 
same source, while at the fall of Antwerp, one-third of the 
merchants and manufacturers of that city came to London. 
Spite of the political complications that the reception of 
these exiles occasionally caused, the attitude of the govern- 
ment was usually friendly. Sometimes immigration was op- 
posed by the jealousy of the English, but as a rule its value 
was recognized, and several towns petitioned the govern- 
ment to have strangers allotted them. 
Green, Favored by political and economic conditions, manufac- 

P- 394- tures took a vigorous start. The eastern counties were 

noted for their worsteds and fine cloth, and even the back- 
ward north felt the effect of the new spirit and developed 
its own special line of friezes and rough goods. Silk 
weaving, the making of felt hats, the manufacture of 
ordnance, ■ — all became industries of national impor- 
tance, employing many hands and adding wealth to the 
country. 

The Royal Navy. — It had been the policy of the English 
sovereigns to own but few ships, but to depend in time of 
war upon vessels furnished by the Cinque Ports 1 in accord- 
ance with their charters, and on vessels impressed for the 
occasion. 

Henry VII did something to strengthen the royal fleet, 
and Henry VIII still more. The latter king organized the 
navy as a standing force, and from this time the names of 
great admirals appear side by side with those of great 

1 The Cinque Ports were Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, Romney, and Hastings. 



The Royal Navy 



275 



generals. The pride of Henry's fleet was the Henri Grace Traill, II, 
a Dieu. In this mr.gnificent vessel the king sailed from 494; 
Dover to meet Francis on the Field of the Cloth of Gold. 45 8l 4 62, 
Henry increased the navy to seventy vessels, but under his 470-472. 
successors it declined. The loss of Calais, although in the 
end a great relief to England, was an immediate in- 
jury to her maritime position. Elizabeth, thrifty here 
as everywhere, was unwilling to spend upon a navy. Of 




THE SHIP Henri Grace a Dieu 
Cumberland, The Story of the Union Jack 

the vessels that went out to meet the Armada, only about 
thirty belonged to the State. Toward the close of Eliza- 
beth's reign the royal navy was increased somewhat by cap- 
tures from the Spanish and by a few new ships. 1 Although 
the government did little directly to build up a navy, yet 
it made some effort to foster the fisheries, as the best school 
for seamanship. Early in the reign of Elizabeth, a statute 
was passed making the eating of flesh on Friday and Satur- 
day a misdemeanor, in order to create a market for fish 
and so forward the "increase of fishermen and mariners." 

1 The largest and finest British-built ship of the century was the Triumph, 
of about 1 100 tonnage. 



Source-Book 
r 53. 154- 



276 



England of the Tudors 



Froude, Hist, 
of England, 
ch. IX. 



Merchant 
Companies. 



Exploration and Commerce. — Henry VII was quick to 
see what would increase the wealth and prosperity of the 
country, and he did much to advance commerce and the 
carrying trade. He made commercial treaties with Den- 
mark and Florence and Flanders. The treaty with Flanders, 
"The Great Intercourse" (1496), provided for free trade 
"in all commodities to each other's ports without pass or 
license," and Henry caused it to be sent to all the great 
towns in England, that the mayor might affix to it the seal 
of the city "for equality and stableness of the matter." 
Laws were also passed for the encouragement of the carry- 
ing trade. Henry's example was followed to some extent 
by his successors, but the results were not great. In 1573 
the burden of all shipping engaged in the regular trade was 
less than fifty thousand tons. 

In the sixteenth century commercial enterprise was 
closely connected with exploration and adventure, and 
Englishmen seemed loath to venture forth upon untravelled 
ways. England's first great achievement in the exploration 
of the New World was undertaken by foreigners. John and 
Sebastian Cabot were Genoese sailors who made voyages 
along the east coast of North America under the auspices 
of Henry VII, and so claimed the land for the English 
king. John Cabot returned from this famous enterprise in 
July, 1497, and in August the king's diary contains the fol- 
lowing entry: "To him that discovered the new Isle ^10." 
In spite of the small cost to the crown of these explora- 
tions, the Cabots met with little encouragement, and in 
15 1 2 Sebastian left the English service not to return until 
the reign of Edward VI. He was then induced to accept 
an office created for him, that of "Governor of the Mystery 
and Company of the Merchant Adventures for the Discov- 
ery of Regions, Dominions, Islands and Places unknown." 
In the reign of Elizabeth commerce slowly developed. 
Merchant companies were formed to secure a share in the 
trade of foreign lands. The Russia Company was founded 
in 1566, and the Turkey Company in 1581, but the most 



Exploration and Ci 



ommerce 



277 



important by far of these associations was the East India 
Company, which was incorporated in 1600, and which was 
to play an important part in English history in the follow- 
ing centuries. 




*~j^a.tj^**/f 



Under Elizabeth many influences combined to trans- Green, 
form the stay-at-home English into a nation of mariners PP- 394. 395 
and explorers. The spirit of adventure and the love of 
gain were growing. Also, England's cherished indepen- 



278 



E?igland of the Tudors 



Green, 

pp. 415-417- 

419. 

Traill, III, 

472-475- 



dence was endangered by Spain, and Spain was a maritime 
state and striving to hold a monopoly of the New World. 
Thus England was forced to build up her power on the 
sea. Moreover, Spain, as the champion of the Pope, made 
war on Protestant shipping. Hence religious fervor and 
patriotism combined to give something of the character of a 
crusade to enterprises that were often little more than buc- 
caneering raids. The risks were great, but the returns were 
even greater, and privateering 1 became a favorite occupa- 
tion for sea-captains and a profitable investment for capital. 

Elizabeth favored the privateers. She liked daring and 
adventure and delighted in achievements secured without 
expense to the crown. So, while the two governments were 
still formally at peace, Spanish and English sailors were 
fighting on every sea, and politic as might be Elizabeth's 
regrets for the depredations committed by her subjects, she 
was too wise to interfere with enterprises that increased the 
national wealth and insured the national defence. Unchecked, 
therefore, by the government, irregular commerce flourished, 
while Drake and Raleigh and Hawkins and a host of others 
made the name of England famous throughout the world. 
Although the general trend was westward, yet English ships 
were found on all seas, in the Mediterranean and in the 
Pacific, in the China Sea and in the Indian Ocean. 

The English Colonies. — It is worthy of note that Eng- 
land was the last of the great European states to enter upon 
colonial enterprise, in spite of the fact that her attempts to 
become a continental power ended with the fifteenth cen- 
tury. Through the voyages and explorations of the Cabots 
in 1497 and 1498 the English secured preemptive right to 
the North American coast from Cape Breton to Albemarle 
Sound. But England was backward and unfortunate in 
asserting her claims. It was not until the reign of Elizabeth 
that attempts were made to secure a foothold in the New 
World, and then the colonization schemes of Frobisher and 



1 A privateer is an armed private vessel commissioned by a state to make 
war upon the enemy's commerce. 



The Old Order and the New 279 

Gilbert and Raleigh all ended in failure. At the close of the six- Green, 
teenth century England had no possessions outside of Europe. PP- 5°5. 5 06 - 

The Old Order and the New. — The organization of society 
in England underwent a great transformation in the six- Traill, n, 
teenth century. The old balance of classes had broken 457-464, 
down. The Reformation deprived the clergy of much of 2 g-s4. 
their former power. They had lost their predominance in 
the House of Lords ; they were no longer employed in the 
great offices of State. Their wealth and territorial influence 
had vanished, and, more than all else, with the Act of Su- 
premacy their independence was gone. The strongest class 
of the preceding centuries was now become the weakest. 

The ancient nobility, with their military habits, their feudal 
traditions, and their great local importance, had well-nigh 
disappeared. In the north alone did they retain something 
of their former power and spirit. The new nobility which 
had replaced the old were of the official or courtier class ; 
they owed their estates to the crown ; they had little local 
influence, and they rarely showed any political energy. 

The growing importance of the middle class gave it an 
influence in legislation equal to that of the nobility. The 
townsmen were richer, more energetic, and more intelli- 
gent than ever before. Many families rose to position and 
influence through the distribution of the monastic property. 
The growth of trade and commerce created a class of 
wealthy merchants eager to possess themselves of land and 
to found county families. These different elements, bound 
together by many interests, trained in public work through 
service as justices of the peace, 1 and in close touch with 
outside concerns, formed the strongest class in the realm, 
and furnished the basis of the Tudor power. 

Among the lower classes diverse tendencies were apparent. 
The small landowners, the yeomanry, gained in strength, but 
on the other hand the small tenant farmers and the laborers 

1 Unpaid county officers appointed by the crown, with power to main- 
tain order and to administer justice in petty cases. The office dates from 
the reign of Richard I, the title from the reign of Edward III. 



280 England of the Tit dors 

underwent a season of great misery and depression, and 
many of them were forced to have recourse to charity. 
Bright, II, Pauperism and Poor Relief . — Transition usually implies 

4 8 ~ 472 ' suffering, and it was to be expected that the disturbed 

industrial conditions would for a time affect disastrously 
the working classes. The marked increase in pauperism 
during the century is therefore not surprising. 

One cause of the evil is found in the agricultural changes. 
Sir Thomas More describes the condition of those evicted 
to make room for sheep : " By one means or other . . . 
they must needs depart away. ... All their household 
stuff . . . being suddenly thrust out, they be constrained to 
sell it for a thing of naught. And when they have wandered 
abroad till that be spent, what can they else do but steal, or 
else go about a-begging? and yet then also they be cast in 
prison as vagabonds, because they go about and work not ; 
whom no man will set a work though they never so willingly 
proffer themselves thereto." The difficulties of the situation 
were aggravated by the rise in prices due to the issues of 
debased coin 1 under Henry VIII and Edward VI, and, in 
the reign of Elizabeth, to the influx of silver from America. 
Moreover, the decay in husbandry, combined with the great 
increase in the population, from three millions in 1485 to four 
and one-half millions in 1 54 7, occasioned a real scarcity of food. 

In the sixteenth century, as now, side by side with the 
helpless poor were found the worthless and the lazy. Com- 
plaints were frequently made of the " sturdy beggars," fore- 
runners of the modern tramp, who swarmed over the country, 
terrorizing the rural districts. A contemporary writes of 
them : "If they ask at a farmer's house his charity, they 
will go strong as three or four in a company, where for 
fear more than good will they often have relief." 

At first there was no systematic attempt to cope with the 

1 Under Henry III the coinage was systematically debased both in 
weight and in quality. This example was followed by Edward and Mary. 
In 1560 Elizabeth brought about the reestablishment of a sound currency 
by calling in the debased coins, paying for them in good new money. 



Social Habits 281 

evil. Relief of the poor was originally a function of the Traill, Social 
Church, especially of the monasteries. The dissolution of ^-''S land ^ 
the religious houses and the seizure of gild property de- 245-256, 
stroyed the only system in existence for alleviating poverty. 548-558. 
It was impossible, however, that a government so paternal as Green, 
that of the Tudors should not endeavor to meet this need, pp- 30, 397- 
and step by step, by means of a long series of experiments, 
an elaborate system of poor relief was worked out. The 
responsibility of the civil power for the care of the poor was 
fully recognized, and what was formerly a religious duty, to 
be enforced by the Church, was now accepted as a public 
charge, to be met by a regular assessment on property by the 
local authorities. Each parish was bound to support its 
own poor. Gradually the proper distinction between pau- 
pers and vagabonds was established, houses of correction 
were erected for the lazy and vicious, while suitable relief 
was given to the helpless poor, and children were appren- 
ticed to a trade. Some effort was also made to provide 
work for able-bodied paupers. In 1601 the long series of The great 
statutes culminated in the great poor law of Elizabeth, an P oor law - 
elaboration of the principles and machinery already recog- 
nized. This in its main provisions remained the basis of the 
English system of poor relief until the eighteenth century. 

The close of the century saw not merely the establishment 
of a well-organized system of poor relief, but also a general 
improvement in the condition of the working classes. This 
was due chiefly to the increased demand for labor arising from 
the extension of the area under tillage, from improved methods 
of agriculture, and from the development of manufactures. 

Social Habits. — Extremes met in sixteenth-century Eng- Harper's, 
land : the growth in luxury and extravagance was as marked voL 8 3. PP- 

, . • • -r, . . ., , 602, 780, 94I 

as the increase in pauperism. Everywhere were visible 

new conceptions of comfort, increased attention to dis- Source-Book, 

play. From the time of Henry VIII there was a marked x 97-2o6. 

tendency toward rather vulgar ostentation in living. The 

gloomy, fortress-like dwellings of the nobility gave place to 

the Elizabethan manor-house, with its wide portals and long 



282 



England of the Tndors 




Green, 

PP- 30, 397- 

Bright, II, 
466, 467, 486, 
487. 



Interior of the Stratford Grammar School (Sixteenth Century) 

Winter, Gray Days and Gold 

lines of windows. In the towns, the growing wealth of the 
merchant class was indicated in the building of much finer 
residences, and throughout the country generally wooden 
houses were replaced by dwellings of brick or stone. A 
contemporary writer, in speaking of the changed manner 
of living, notes " the multitude of chimnies latilie erected," 
" the great amendment of lodging," " the exchange of 
vessels, as of woodden platters into pewter, and woodden 
spoons into silver or tin." Increased gorgeousness of 
attire was as marked as improved house-furnishings. The 
Englishmen's love of feasting had always been noticeable. 
A Spaniard, writing in the time of Mary, said of them, 
"they fare commonly as well as the king." This spread 
of luxury was viewed by many with dismay. " England 
spendeth more on wines in one year than it did in 
ancient times in four years," was the complaint of a royal 
minister. Numerous sumptuary laws were passed, with, 
however, but little effect. 



Elizabethan Literatim 



283 



Elizabethan Literature. — The promise of the Renaissance The 
was overwhelmed before it had reached its fulfilment by the Renaissance 
fierce tide of religious revolution. Reason and reform were R °f orn ^ a _ 
trampled under foot by dogma and fanaticism. During the tion. 
middle years of the century, the influence of the new learn- 
ing was shown chiefly in the great attention given to educa- 
tion. The sons and daughters of the upper classes were 




Timber House in the Corn Market, Worcester 

Britton, Picturesque Antiquities 

carefully trained, and the founding of grammar schools 1 
under Henry VIII and Edward VI testified to an in- 
creased interest in the education of the children of the 
middle class. 

The settlement of the religious question under Elizabeth 
left men free to consider other things, and the earlier 
revival of letters bore fruit in the wonderful outburst of 
literary activity which marked the close of the century. 



1 Over fifty grammar schools were established before the end of the reign 
of Henry VIII, and Edward VI endowed twenty more from the plunder of 
the chantries. 



284 England of the Tudors 

The vigor of the national life was reflected in the origi- 
Green, nality of thought, the boldness of conception, that charac- 

pp. 401-404, ter j ze( j t h e wor icl of letters. Its restless curiosity, the 
422-438. . J 

many-sidedness of its interests, found expression in a lit- 
erature which included the Novum Organon of Bacon 
and the Ecclesiastical Polity of Hooker, Spenser's Faerie 
Queene and Shakespeare's Hamlet. 



CHAPTER X 

THE PURITAN REVOLUTION 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 

Cromwell, Letters and Speeches (Carlyle). 

Boyle, Characters and Episodes selected from Clarendon. 

Ludlow, Memoirs. 

Hutchinson, Life of Colonel Hutchinson. 

Letters and Papers of the Vemey Family. 

Gardiner, Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution. 

Adams and Stephens, Hill, Henderson, Prothero, as before. 

Special Authorities 

Gardiner, History of England from 1603-1642, History of the Great 
Civil War, History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate. 

Figgis, Theory of the Divine Right of Kings. 

Jenks, Constitutional Experiments of the Commonwealth. 

Hallam, Constitutional History of England. 

Montague, Political History of England, Vol. VII. 

Hutton, Laud. 

Trevelyan, England under the Stuarts. 

Goldwin Smith, Essays on Pym and Cromwell (in Three English 
Statesmen). 

Macaulay, Essay on Hampden. 

Marriott, Life and Times of Falkland. 

Harrison, Oliver Cromwell. 

Firth, Oliver Cromwell. 

Scott, E., Prince Rupert. 

Imaginative Literature 

Browning, Strafford. 
Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, Woodstock. 
2S5 



286 



The Puritan Revolution 



See p. 236. 



Bright, II, 
581-584. 



James I (1603-1625). — Mary Stuart's son succeeded 
Elizabeth on the throne without dispute. The will of 
Henry VIII was quietly ignored. There was doubt as 
to the legitimacy of the heir to the crown in the Suffolk 
line; the Scotch king was a Protestant, his hereditary right 
was undoubted, the union of Scotland and England under 
one crown promised to put an end to the long-standing 
enmity between the two kingdoms. 

The accession of the house of Stuart 1 marks the close of 
a century of personal rule based on public opinion, and 
the opening of a century of conflict for supremacy between 
crown and Parliament. England had acquiesced in the 
Tudor despotism, because in the royal power lay the only 
means for securing peace at home and for carrying on the 
struggle against Spain and the papacy. Even after the 
danger was passed, habit and respect for Elizabeth still 
held in check the growing spirit of independence. But 
now the nation was ready and determined to take more 
active part in the control of affairs. 

James I came to the throne imbued with a belief in the 
divine right of kings, and he held exalted ideas of the 
royal prerogative. The great power of the Tudors, the cir- 
cumstances of his accession, the attitude of the party by 



James I, 1603-1625, m. Anne of Denmark 



s, 



Henry, Prince of 
Wales 



Charles I, m. Henrietta 
1625-1640 I Maria of France 



'49 I 



Charles II, (nominally) 

1649-1660, 

(actually) 1660-1685, 

m. Catherine of 

Braganza 



Mary, m. 

William II, 

Prince of 

Orange 



William III, 
Prince of Or- 
ange, King of 
Great Britain 
and Ireland, 
1 689- 1 702 



James II, 

1685-1689, 

m. (1) Anne 

Hyde; 

I 

I 1 

m. Mary Anne 

II, 1689- 1702- 

1694 1 714 



(2) Mary of 
Modena 



James 
(The Old 
Pretender) 

Charles Ed- 
ward (The 
Young Pre- 
tender) 



Elizabeth, m. Frederick V, 
Elector 
Palatine 

r 



Sophia 

George I, 
1714-1727 



Prince 
Rupert 



James and the Religious Issue 287 

which he was surrounded, — all combined to strengthen 
him in a conception of the English kingship as something 
above the law. Moreover, he insisted, as the Tudors had 
never done, on a formal recognition of his claims. 

There was little in the Stuart king to make his preten- Gardiner, 
sions acceptable to the English people. He was of an ^ rtt f n a 
alien and unpopular race. His undignified bearing was p . 13. 
in sharp contrast to the royal carriage of his predecessor. 
His shrewd sense and rough wit could not make amends for 
the coarseness of his uncouth speech, and the national sense 
of decency was shocked by the grossness and unveiled 
immorality of his court. 

James and the Religious Issue. — The fundamental differ- Green, 
ences between the king and the people in respect to the pp- 474-480, 
power of the crown were certain to cause trouble, but James 
precipitated the conflict by his treatment of the religious 
situation. 

Men were beginning to think for themselves in matters 
of conscience; they were no longer willing to change their 
beliefs at the dictation of the ruler. Deepening religious 
feeling meant increased difference of opinion. At the 
death of Elizabeth the royal supremacy and the ecclesias- 
tical hierarchy were accepted by the bulk of the nation, 
but within the Church two parties were becoming sharply 
defined. One, the High Church party, laid great stress Parties in 
upon Episcopacy and external forms. The other, the the Church < 
Puritan party, which included a large part of the laity and 
many of the lower clergy, thought more of conduct than of 
church government, and desired greater simplicity of wor- 
ship. Nowhere was there a spirit of toleration. One 
church for all was the conception of the seventeenth cen- 
tury as it had been of preceding centuries. In Elizabeth's 
reign religious differences were silenced in the face of 
national danger, but now there was no moderating influence 
present among the people. 

The several parties looked forward to the coming of 
James with deep interest. Roman Catholics hoped for 



288 



The Puritan Revolution 



Bright, II, 
587. 589- 

Millenary 
Petition. 

Source-Book, 
pp. 209-211. 



better times under the son of Mary Stuart. The extreme 
Puritans saw in the Scotch king only the Presbyterian and 
remembered that he had called the English service but an 
"evil-said mass." 

Hampton Court Conference (1604). — On his way to Lon- 
don the king was presented with a petition signed by 825 
of the clergy. The Millenary Petition, as it was called, 
represented the wishes of a large body of the most earnest 
and able men of the country. It asked nothing that was 
inconsistent with the Church as established, but it urged 
greater freedom in certain matters of worship and the re- 
form of some recognized abuses. James showed the peti- 
tioners slight favor, but he called a conference of the 
leading divines of both parties to debate the situation in 
his presence. This apparent show of fairness was, however, 
belied by his bearing at the Hampton Court Conference, 
where he openly encouraged the bishops while browbeating 
the Puritans. It was plain that the royal influence would 
be on the side of the High Church party. 

James saw the religious question in the light of self- 
interest. He felt that equality in the Church would lead 
to equality in the State. He made the mistake of con- 
founding Puritanism with Presbyterianism, and he held that 
"A Presbytery agreeth as well with Monarchy as God and 
the Devil." On the other hand, he recognized the identity 
of interest between the hierarchy and the crown. "No 
bishop, no king," was his favorite maxim. The Hampton 
Court Conference was James's chance of acting as a medi- 
ator between two extreme parties, a part for which he was 
well fitted through his tolerant temper. He threw away 
this chance and allied himself with one small party. The 
new canons of 1604, excluding from their livings all clergy- 
men who questioned the complete accord of the prayer 
book with the Bible, was his answer to the demands of the 
Puritans. 

The Catholics. — Persecution of Catholics had relaxed, 
but their position was almost intolerable through insecurity 



James I and Parliament 289 

and the opportunities afforded for petty and personal an- Gardiner, 
noyance. At first James showed willingness to abate the v" 1 ^. 
severity of the laws, but in a short time need for consist- pp . 20-23. ' 
ency or desire to conciliate the Puritans led to a change. 
All priests were banished, and the fines for recusancy were 
rigorously exacted. The immediate result was the Gun- Gunpowder 
powder Plot (1605), a conspiracy formed by a few desperate plot ' I<5 ° 5 ' 
men to blow up the Houses of Parliament and in the con- 
fusion that would follow to bring about a general rising. 
The plan, which was under the management of a soldier, 
Guy Fawkes, was discovered in time, and its only effect 
was to make toleration of the Catholics impossible for a 
century longer. 

James I and Parliament. — The Catholics, excluded from Green, 
the House of Commons by the Test Act, resorted to con- pp- 48o_ 4 8 5- 
spiracy, but the Puritans could show their dissatisfaction 
in more regular ways, and James soon found that he had 
roused a spirit which he could not control. Parliament 
met in 1604. Attendance at the opening of the session 
had never been so great, and it was estimated that three- 
fourths of the members were Puritans. The good under- 
standing which had always existed between Elizabeth and 
her Parliament was wanting from the start to her successor. 
James had aroused the jealousy of the Lower House by 
an ill-judged attempt to interfere in the elections. An 
address, called "A humble Form and Apology," was pre- 
pared by the Commons, but apparently never presented to 
the king, in which they declared that their privileges and Source . Book 
liberties were theirs "by right and inheritance," and that pp. 212-216.' 
their request to enjoy them was only "an act of manners." 
A determination was shown to grant no money until cer- 
tain abuses had been redressed. Purveyance and military 
tenures were attacked. The question of the new canons 
was taken up. The proposals of the Commons for settling 
the religious question reveal a sounder view of the situa- 
tion than was shown by the king or the bishops or the 
Hampton Court Puritans. They petitioned against the 



290 



The Puritan Revolution 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp. 17-20. 



practical evil of an illiterate and non-resident ministry, 
and they asked that it might be held sufficient for the 
clergy to subscribe to the doctrine of Royal Supremacy 
and to the thirty-nine Articles (p. 256), and that no man 
should be deprived of his living for objecting to the 
surplice or to the use of the cross in baptism. They 




Northwest View of Hatfield House 

Built for Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, between 1605 and 1611 

would have made the Church broad enough to include 
others than the High Church party. 

This first year was typical of the whole reign. James 
had no liking for Parliament; he showed neither dignity 
nor tact in his dealings with it. He wished to free him- 
self from its control, but from the outset he was hampered 
by need of money. Elizabeth had accustomed the nation 
to light taxes, and Parliament was not disposed to give 
generously. It met each request for aid with a demand for 
redress of grievances. To fill his empty treasury without 



Rtde of Favorites 291 

appealing to Parliament James had recourse to many ques- 
tionable expedients. Additional customs or impositions Impositions, 
were levied by royal proclamation. The Commons pro- 
tested vigorously, but in 1606 the case of Bates, a merchant 
who had refused to pay the new customs, was decided in 
favor of the crown. Acting upon this decision, James 
issued a Book of Rates, by which all the customs were 
considerably increased. Commerce was growing rapidly 
and the revenue seemed assured, but the king was extrava- 
gant, and in 16 10 it again became necessary to appeal 
to Parliament for supplies. An attempt made by Cecil * to 
arrange a bargain by which James agreed to abandon the 
ancient feudal tenure of land with its exasperating claims 
in return for a regular grant, ended in failure, and Parlia- 
ment was dissolved. 

The Addled Parliament. — In 1614 the royal straits for 
money were so great that a new Parliament was called, but 
the House of Commons, which included among its mem- 
bers Eliot and Wentworth and Pym, leaders in the struggle 
that was soon to break out, fell at once to discussing 
the question of impositions. James dissolved Parliament 
in anger before anything had been accomplished. 

Rule of Favorites. — For seven years, from 1614 to 162 1, Green, 
James ruled without Parliament. Elizabeth had surrounded PP- 4 8 5-4 83 
herself with statesmen, but after the death of Cecil in 1612 
James took counsel chiefly with his favorites. The first of 
these was Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, a courtier who 
had nothing to recommend him except his beauty and grace 
of manners. He was displaced by another intimate, George 
Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who with scarcely greater Bucking- 
claims to statesmanship exercised until his death a control- ham- 
ling voice in the conduct of affairs. 

Year by year the breach between James and his subjects 
widened. There was general indignation at the profligacy 
and extravagance of the court, and the king's absolute 

1 Robert Cecil, son of Elizabeth's great minister, Lord Burleigh, was 
James's chief adviser during the first years of his reign. 



292 The Puritan Revolution 

methods gave frequent occasion for protest. Royal procla- 
mations having the force of law were issued in large num- 
bers. Monopolies, abandoned in the preceding reign, were 
again granted. Irregular means of raising supplies were 
employed. Peerages were sold, ancient feudal dues were re- 
vived, loans and benevolences were exacted. Blind to the 
effect of these measures upon the people, James boldly 
asserted his views of the royal power. " As for the absolute 
prerogative of the Crown," he declared in a speech in the 
Star Chamber in 16 16, " that is no subject for the tongue of 
a lawyer, nor is it lawful to be disputed. It is atheism and 
blasphemy to dispute what God can do; good Christians 
content themselves with His will revealed in His Word; 
so it is presumption and high contempt in a subject to dis- 
pute what a king can do, or say that a king cannot do this 
or that; but rest in that which is the king's will revealed 
in his law." 
Green, The Spanish Alliance. — The home and foreign policy of 

pp. 488, 489. j ames 1 were closely connected. His efforts to free himself 
from parliamentary control could be successful only so long 
as he kept out of war. During the early part of the reign, 
England's foreign relations were guided by Cecil in accord- 
ance with the traditions of Elizabeth's rule. The war with 
Spain was brought to an end. Through the combined efforts 
of the English minister and the French king the indepen- 
dence of the Dutch was virtually secured. James's eldest 
daughter Elizabeth was married to a Protestant prince of 
Germany, the Elector Palatine. A plan for an alliance be- 
tween Prince Henry and a daughter of Henry IV of France 
was frustrated by the untimely death of the young prince. 
After Cecil's death in 161 2 James was free to follow 
his own views. He was attracted by the idea of a 
Spanish alliance, and while Cecil was still alive he had 
proposed to marry Prince Charles to the Spanish Infanta. 
The king looked with admiration upon the absolutism of 
the Spanish monarchs, and he hoped in union with Spain 
to dictate peace to Europe. There was much to be said 



294 



The Puritan Revolution 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp. 29-31. 



Green, 

pp. 489-493- 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp. 31-39. 



in favor of these views. England needed peace, Spain was 
no longer a menace to her safety, and the commercial hos- 
tility of the two countries could be better settled by treaty 
than by war. But his policy was impracticable. The 
traditional enmity to Spain was still strong, and a Spanish 
alliance would mean toleration of the Catholics in England. 
Nevertheless James persisted in his plans. 1 

The Thirty Years' War greatly increased the difficulties 
of the situation. In 16 18 the long-impending struggle 
between Catholics and Protestants broke out in Germany. 
James's own son-in-law, the Elector Palatine, was involved, 
and it was impossible for England to stand aloof. The 
king still clung to the idea of an alliance with Spain, and 




Signature of Francis, Lord Bacon 

strove to play the part of peacemaker, but the nation de- 
tested the Spanish connection and was anxious for war 
in the interests of Protestantism. 

Parliament and the Spanish Policy. — In 1620 a Spanish 
army invaded the Palatinate, and James, helpless without 
money, summoned Parliament to obtain supplies. The 
Commons came together (1621) hot for war, but when they 
found that the king was still bent on negotiating, they limited 
the money grant and turned fiercely upon the grievances 
that had been accumulating during the past seven years. 
Monopolies were attacked, and James was forced to give 
up the right of granting them. The long-disused weapon 

1 As a concession to Spain, Sir Walter Raleigh, last of the great captains 
of Elizabeth's reign, was executed (1618) for his share in the attack upon a 
Spanish colony on the Orinoco. 



Colonial Enterprises 295 

of impeachment was revived against the royal ministers. Impeach- 
Lord Bacon, the chancellor, was impeached and condemned ment of 

• , r 1 • 1 -l rr-l r ,■ • BaCQJtt. l62I. 

to severe punishment for taking bribes, lhe feeling against 
him was due in part to his systematic support of the royal 
prerogative. Protests were made against the Catholic alli- 
ance, and war with Spain was demanded. The temper of 
the Commons was rising, and a message from the king, for- 
bidding all consideration of foreign affairs, they met by a Protesta- 
strong declaration that the discussion of all affairs of State tlon » l621 - 
was within the province of Parliament. James, with his 
own hand, tore the Protestation from the Journals of the 
House. " I will govern according to the common weal, 
but not according to the common will," he declared, and 
ordered the dissolution of Parliament. 

More than ever bent on bringing about a close alliance Green, 
with Spain, the king permitted Prince Charles and Buck- pp- 494-496. 
ingham to undertake a romantic journey to Madrid to woo 
the young Infanta. The religious difficulties were too 
great to be overcome, and in a few months Charles and 
Buckingham were back in England, piqued at their failure 
and eager for war with Spain. At once all was changed. 
Negotiations were set on foot for marrying Charles to a 
French princess, Parliament was again summoned, and War with 
preparations for war were pushed forward. At this juncture Spain, 1624. 
the old king died. In twenty years James had turned re- 
spect for the monarchy into contempt and loyalty into 
hatred. He had insulted Parliament and asserted his 
authority as no Tudor had ever done, but in spite of his 
arbitrary methods, rather because of them, the constitu- 
tional gains of this reign outweighed all that had been 
achieved since the fall of the house of Lancaster. 

Colonial Enterprises. — The beginnings of permanent Green, 
English occupation and colonization in America belong to PP- 506-508, 
the reigns of the first two Stuarts. Some of the West 
Indian Islands — Barbadoes, Antigua, and Montserrat — 
then came into English possession. The settlement of Vir- 
ginia in 1607 was followed speedily by the planting of 



296 The Puritan Revolution 

colonies to the north, — the New England group, 1 620-1 629, 
Maryland, 1634, — and by the middle of the seventeenth 
century England could boast of several strong settle- 
ments on the Atlantic seaboard. As a whole the colo- 
nial enterprises of England at this time were of exceptional 
character. They were not the result of a general migrating 
tendency in the English people, nor of a definite colonizing 
policy on the part of the government. The first two 
Stuarts were far too busily occupied in upholding the royal 
prerogative in England to concern themselves with schemes 
of conquest and settlement. They were, however, responsi- 
ble for the religious and political difficulties which resulted 
in a steady stream of emigration to America during the 
years between 1620 and the outbreak of the Civil War. 

Charles I (1625-1649). — Much was expected from the 
accession of Charles. The dignity of the young king's 
bearing and the decorum of his life had created a favorable 
impression, and his known hostility to the Spanish alliance 
aroused hopes of a more popular policy. But Charles was 
even less fitted than his father to rule the English people. 
He was narrow and obstinate. While believing as strongly 
as did James in the royal prerogative, he had even less 
comprehension of the popular temper. From first to last 
he showed himself incapable of understanding the condi- 
tions with which he had to deal. 
Green, The enthusiasm which greeted the new monarch soon 

pp. 485-487. C ooled. It became plain that Charles's opposition to Spain 
was the result of pique and did not imply an essential 
change of policy. Although the terms of the French mar- 
riage treaty 1 were not known at first, the mere fact of this 
alliance with a Catholic princess, coupled with greater 
leniency toward the English Catholics, aroused fears of a 
reaction. Moreover, the continued influence of Bucking- 

1 By the marriage treaty freedom of worship and the custody of her 
children till the age of ten were secured to the queen. Charles also agreed 
to a suspension of Roman Catholic disabilities, although he had promised 
Parliament to do nothing of the kind. 




Chaki.es 1 



Arbitrary Acts 297 

ham gave little hope of more capable action abroad or 
more constitutional rule at home. 

Misgovernment of Charles and Buckingham. — The king Gardiner, 
met his first Parliament with a demand for money to carry Puritan 

/-1 j Revolution, 

on the war with Spam, but the Commons voted only a pp 4 8_ so . 
small part of what was desired and for the first time in two 
centuries refused to grant the general customs duty of ton- 
nage and poundage for life. The rigid execution of the law 
against the Catholics was demanded, and the king was asked 
to surround himself with counsellors in whom the people 
could confide. Hopeless of obtaining the necessary sup- 
plies, Charles dissolved Parliament. 

For a few months the king and Buckingham struggled 
along, raising money in irregular ways and endeavoring to 
win popularity by pushing forward the war with Spain. 
But an expedition to Cadiz ended in disaster through the Expedition 
duke's mismanagement, and in 1626 the king's necessities toCadlz - 
forced him to summon a new Parliament. In the hope of 
weakening the opposition, Charles had caused the most 
prominent members of the last House of Commons to be 
appointed sheriffs, thus preventing their return. The Com- 
mons, however, found an able and fearless leader in Sir Attack on 
John Eliot and at once took up the discussion of griev- Buckin s ham - 
ances. Buckingham was looked upon as the cause of all Green, 
difficulties, and the Commons, despite the command of the PP- 498, 499- 
king, urged forward his impeachment. To save his friend, 
Charles again dissolved Parliament, and for the next two 
years he strove to get on without the legislative assembly. 

Arbitrary Acts. — During the interval the relations be- Green, 
tween Charles and his subjects grew steadily worse. To PP- 499-Soi. 
raise money to carry on the government, the king resorted 
to arbitrary measures. A forced loan was demanded. Poor 
men who refused to pay were driven into the army ; rich 
men were thrown into prison. Five of the men thus pun- 
ished determined to test the legality of the action of the 
government and sued out a writ of Habeas Corpus. The 
point at issue was the power of the crown to imprison with- 



298 



The Puritan Revolution 



out showing cause, and the decision of the judges was in the 
king's favor. Many things combined to arouse popular fear 
and indignation. The absolutist tendencies of that party in 
the Church which was favored by the crown were becoming 
more manifest. It was declared from the pulpit that " the 
king is not bound to observe the laws of the realm concern- 
ing the subject's rights and liberties, but that his royal will 
and command in imposing loans and taxes without common 




Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford 

After the painting by Van Dyck 



War with 

France, 

1627. 



consent in Parliament doth oblige the subject's conscience 
on pain of eternal damnation." Fears of a Catholic re- 
vival were aroused by the apparent leaning of the court 
toward Rome. Moreover, foreign affairs were hopelessly mis- 
managed. The Palatinate was lost, and by 1627 Buckingham 
succeeded in involving England in a war with France. An 
expedition to the Isle of Rhe" for the relief of the Huguenots, 
now in rebellion, ended in complete disaster. 

Quarrel between the King and Parliament. — Need for 



Assassination of Buckingham 299 

money forced Charles to summon a new Parliament in 
1628. The Houses met in no conciliatory temper and, 
instead of voting supplies, proceeded at once to discuss Given, 
the condition of the country. All men were stirred by the pp 491-493- 
recent attacks on personal rights. "We must vindicate Gardiner, 
our ancient liberties," said Sir Thomas Wentworth, " we devolution 
must reenforce the laws made by our ancestors. We must pp. 57-63. 
set such a stamp upon them as no licentious spirit shall 
dare hereafter to invade them." He moved that "griev- 
ances and supplies should go hand in hand," and under his 
leadership the Commons drew up the Petition of Right, a 
statement of privilege second only to the Great Charter in The Petition 
constitutional importance. It declared that no man should of Right, 
be forced to pay loan, benevolence, or tax without the con- Leafle °" n 
sent of Parliament ; that no subject should be imprisoned No. 23. ' 
without stated charge ; that soldiers should not be billeted 
upon the people against their will ; and that martial law 
should not be enforced in time of peace. At first Charles 
gave an evasive answer to the Commons' demands, but he 
was finally forced to yield consent, and the Petition of 
Right became part of the law of England. 

The granting of the Petition did not secure harmony 
between the king and Parliament. Before the end of the Adams, 
session a new question arose. Although the grant of ton- Representa- 
nage and poundage, even for a year, had never been ^ ations l 
completed, Charles had levied the duties ever since his 
accession. The Commons now contended that the Peti- 
tion of Right made such action illegal, but the king main- 
tained that customs were not covered by the words of the 
Petition. The question was still unsettled when Charles, 
to avert an attack upon Buckingham, prorogued Parliament. 

Assassination of Buckingham. — Before Parliament met 
again, the favorite had fallen by the hand of an assassin. 1 
Buckingham's death was received with general rejoicing, 
but it brought no improvement in the situation; it only 

1 An officer named Felton, who was embittered by failure to obtain 
employment. 



3oo 



TJic Puritan Revolution 



Green, 

pp. 503-505- 
Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution , 
pp. 63-69. 



The three 
resolutions. 



laid bare the gulf that divided the king and the nation. 
The powerful duke had borne the brunt of popular dissatis- 
faction ; it was now no longer possible to deny the king's 
responsibility for the policy of the government. 

The Commons and the Religious Question. — The matter 
of tonnage and poundage might have been compromised if 
it had stood alone, but the chance of an harmonious settle- 
ment was greatly diminished by growing religious differ- 
ences. The country gentry, the most numerous element 
in the House of Commons, was at this time Protestant and 
Calvinistic in feeling. But among the clergy of the High 
Church party there was a tendency to break away from the 
sterner dogmas of Calvin. The ecclesiastical party favored 
by the court was thus brought into conflict with the House of 
Commons, both through its theological beliefs and through 
its political opinions. The Commons showed themselves 
as hostile to the one as to the other. One clergyman was 
impeached for attacking the doctrine of predestination, 
another for upholding from the pulpit such views as that 
" the king is not bound to observe the laws of the realm 
concerning the subject's rights and liberties." 

Fear and doubt steadily increased during the autumn. 
Charles's persistency in the matter of tonnage and pound- 
age, the favor shown to Catholics, the promotion of Laud 
(the leader of the High Church party) to the bishopric of 
London, the bestowal of important preferments upon Mon- 
tague and Manwaring (the clergymen censured by Parlia- 
ment), all seemed to point to a systematic attack upon the 
Church and the Constitution. 

When Parliament reassembled early in 1629 the storm 
broke loose. The question of religion was at once taken 
up by the Commons under the leadership of Sir John Eliot. 
On the 2d of March the debate was suddenly interrupted by 
an order to adjourn. A scene of great excitement followed. 
The Speaker was held down in his chair so that he could 
not announce the adjournment, while Eliot read three resolu- 
tions declaring that any one who introduced innovations in 



pp. 504, 505. 

Gardiner, 



Revolution 
pp. 69-75. 



Personal Government 30 1 

religion or advised the levying of tonnage or poundage with- Source-Book 
out a grant by Parliament or voluntarily paid such duties 2I 9-222. 
should be regarded as an enemy to the kingdom and a be- 
trayer of the liberties of England. The resolutions were 
adopted with shouts of " Aye, aye." Charles at once ordered 
a dissolution, and for eleven years no Parliament was called. 

Personal Government. — The dissolution of Parliament Green, 
was followed by a period of personal rule. In a public 
proclamation Charles declared that " we have showed by our Puritan 
frequent meeting our people our love to the use of Parlia- 
ment ; yet the late abuse having for the present driven us un- 
wittingly out of that course, we shall account it presumption 
for any to prescribe any time with us for Parliament." 

The first years of absolutism were quiet and untroubled. 
The government was carried on by ministers who were the 
irresponsible agents of the royal will. The leaders of the 
opposition in the last House of Commons were imprisoned 
and charged before the King's Bench with riot and sedition. 
Eliot refused to plead, denying the jurisdiction of the 
court over things done in Parliament, and he died in prison 
(1632), a martyr to the cause of representative government. 
Peace was made with France in 1629, and with Spain in 
1630. The collection of the customs was continued and 
resistance gradually died out. Through the agency of the 
court of the Star Chamber the king's opponents were crushed 
or silenced. Sir Thomas Wentvvorth, the author of the Wentworth. 
Petition of Right, was won over to the side of absolutism. Green, 
Political conviction combined with personal ambition had Ga r drner 2 ° 
led Wentworth to forsake the popular cause. His opposi- Puritan 
tion had been directed against the influence of Buckingham Revolution, 
rather than against the power of the crown. He saw all P ' 7 
the defects of the parliamentary system and none of its 
good points, and his ideal was a monarchy of the Tudor 
type with a patriotic minister behind the throne. Charles 
realized the value of such a servant. Wentworth was raised Baron 
to the peerage in 1629 and made President of the Council of Wentworth 
the North. In 1633 he was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland. 



302 



The Puritan Revolution 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp. 97-102. 



Wentworth in Ireland. — Since the overthrow of Tyrone 
the Irish had remained quiet. The policy of coloniza- 
tion, however, was continued, and under James I large 
tracts of the best lands of Ulster were confiscated on 
slight pretexts and planted with Scotch and English 




William Laud 

From a portrait engraved for the Universal Magazine 

<ff>: &A : 



Green, 

PP. 520. 5 21 - 



settlers. As many of these were Puritans, a new element 
of discord was introduced. When Wentworth arrived 
in Ireland he at once set to work to organize the gov- 
ernment in the royal interest, and created an army chiefly 
of Irish Catholics. On the understanding that the king 
would concede certain favors for which the Irish Parlia- 



Land and the Church 303 

ment had petitioned, he procured a large grant of money. 
The supplies once voted, however, Wentworth did not 
hesitate to advise Charles to withhold the promised con- 
cessions. Conformity was rigorously enforced, although 
ninety-nine out of every hundred among the Irish were of 
the Catholic faith. So well did Wentworth take his meas- 
ures that in 1636 he could write to Laud, "The king is 
now as absolute here as any prince in the world can be." 
Although his rule was a rule of terror, he nevertheless did 
something to improve the material condition of the country. 
Good laws were passed, the flax industry was fostered, and 
trade developed. On the other hand, the fears of the Irish 
for their lands were kept alive by a proposal to plant 
Connaught with English settlers, and race and religious 
antagonisms were intensified by Wentworth's policy of 
governing through a balance of parties. 

Laud and the Church. — In ecclesiastical matters the Green, 
king's chief adviser was Laud, Bishop of London, later pp- 498-503. 
Archbishop of Canterbury. Unity through uniformity was 
Laud's policy, and the canons of the Church were his 
standard. In matters of doctrine he was tolerant, and his Gardiner, 
efforts to restore order and decency in the churches were Purifan 
much needed. But he was determined to force one ritual 00.75,76,78, 
on the country, and he showed no mercy to the Puritan 85-90, 94-97. 
clergy. All who refused exact conformity in matters of wor- 
ship were suspended or deprived. Worst of all he seemed 
to be drawing the Church nearer to Rome. Increasing 
stress was laid upon ceremonial, the authority of the bishops 
was exalted, language was used which was thought to show 
a desire for reconciliation with the ancient Church. 

By this course Laud set himself in sharp opposition to 
the prevailing sentiments of the nation. His rigid system 
made no allowance for the deepening religious feeling ot 
the people, now as never before a Bible-reading people. 1 

1 In 1611 a new translation of the Bible, known as the Authorized 
Version of King James, was published. It was the work of Puritans and 
High Churchmen, and was proposed in the Hampton Court Conference. 



304 



The Puritan Revolution 



Old South 
Leaflets, 
No. 57; 
Traill, III, 
193-196. 



Green, 

PP- 50S-S07. 

5I5-5I8. 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp. 90-94. 



Ship-money. 



Disapproval of the principles of the High Church party 
was not confined to extreme Puritans now that men were 
forced to see in that party the strongest supporters of the 
royal prerogative. The struggle going on in Germany had 
tended to intensify the Protestantism of England, and fears 
of a Catholic reaction could not fail to arouse even the 
most moderate. As yet, however, Laud met with little re- 
sistance in enforcing his measures. The court of High 
Commission and the Star Chamber were active in sup- 
pressing open disaffection, and many of the more deter- 
mined Puritans left the country to seek a home in the 
new commonwealth beyond the sea. 

Financial Schemes. — Charles's chief difficulty was to 
obtain money without the aid of Parliament. New ex- 
pedients were devised for raising a revenue. Exorbitant 
fines were exacted for all kinds of petty offences. Compo- 
sition for knighthood was enforced after a century's disuse. 1 
By reviving obsolete laws the bounds of the royal forests 
were greatly extended, 2 and those whose lands lay within 
the new limits had to pay fines to secure their titles. The 
legislation of James's reign had not touched the power 
of the crown to establish corporations with the right of 
monopoly, and the sale of monopolies was carried on to 
an unheard-of extent. 

In view of the maritime ascendency of France and Hol- 
land, Charles not unnaturally desired to strengthen the 
English fleet. He determined to make use of an ancient 
custom, and in 1634 issued writs to the port towns requir- 
ing them to furnish ships. In the following year, the inland 
counties were included in the demand. In both cases the 
king managed to obtain not ships but money, which he 
devoted to building up a navy entirely under his control. 
Year after year the levy of ship-money continued. Popular 

1 By a law of Edward I, all owners of land worth ^40 a year were obliged 
to receive knighthood, paying large fees for the honor, or else incur a heavy 
fine. 

2 The limits of the Forest of Rockingham were enlarged from six to 
sixty miles. 



Financial Schemes 305 

dissatisfaction arose, not because the king had a navy, but 
because the tax was raised without a parliamentary grant. 
As yet the fund was employed according to the avowed 
intention, but the principle involved was so capable of 
extension that Wentworth said of it : " Let the king only 
abstain from war for three years that he may habituate his 
subjects to the payment of this tax, and in the end he will 
find himself more powerful and respected than any of his 
predecessors." 




Hampden 

After a print by J. Houbraken, 1740 

The nation saw this as clearly as did Wentworth. John 
Hampden, a gentleman of Buckinghamshire, undertook to Hampden. 
bring the question of the legality of ship-money before the 
courts by refusing to pay his tax. But the judges were the 
tools of the king, and the decision was in favor of the royal Old South 
prerogative. One judge asserted that rex was lex, and 
Chief Justice Finch declared that " they are void Acts of 
Parliament to bind the king not to command the subjects, 



Leaflets, 
No. 60. 



306 



The Puritan Revolution 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp. 102-108. 



The new 

service 

book. 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution 
PP 



10. 



their persons and goods, and I say their money too, for no 
Acts of Parliament make any difference." It was vain to 
look for justice in courts guided not by the law but by the 
will of the king. 

The decision of the judges in the ship-money case 
showed all thinking men the peril of the situation. Never- 
theless action did not at once follow ; no leader had ap- 
peared, and in the intermission of Parliament the national 
temper was in doubt. But the blind self-will of the king 
was hastening the crisis. 

Quarrel with Scotland. — The signal for revolt came from 
Scotland. The vigorous Presbyterianism of the northern 
kingdom had not been able to hinder the reestablishment 
of Episcopacy under James, but the feeling of the people 
was openly hostile and suspicious. Undismayed, Charles 
and Laud determined to force upon the Scots a new church 
service, modelled upon the English prayer book. National 
pride as well as religious feeling was offended at this inno- 
vation from England. The first attempt to use the new 
liturgy met with an opposition which soon grew into re- 
bellion against the political as well as the ecclesiastical 
authority of the king. The Covenant of 1557 was renewed. 
A free Parliament, a general assembly, and the abolition of 
the obnoxious ecclesiastical innovations were demanded. 
For the moment Charles yielded, but only to gain time to 
gather together an army. He dared not draw back, for fear 
of the effect in England. In 1639 the war broke out, and 
the advantage was all on the side of the Covenanters. With- 
out the support of Parliament it was evident that Charles 
could not hold his own against a united, determined Scot- 
land. By the advice of Wentworth, who had returned from 
Ireland and become for the first time the chief counsellor 
of the king, the policy of the last eleven years was aban- 
doned, and a Parliament was summoned. 

The Short Parliament. — The Parliament called for May, 
1640, met in no unreasonable temper, but it was soon plain 
that grievances must be redressed before aid would b< 



Meeting of the Long Parliament 



307 



granted. Charles offered to give up ship-money in return Adams, 
for supplies, but the Commons hesitated and showed signs Re P re ^ ta - 
of opposition to the war with Scotland. Money, not debate, orations, 1. 
was what Charles wanted, and against the advice of Went- 
worth, now Earl of Strafford, he dissolved Parliament after 
a session of little more than three weeks. 

During the summer the king's difficulties increased ; 
since he could not pay the army that he had gathered 
together, the soldiers 
mutinied and refused to 
fight. The Scots invaded 
Durham and Northum- 
berland. Finally, by the 
advice of a Council of 
Peers called at York, 
Charles entered into ne- 
gotiations with the Scots, 
and at the same time 
issued writs for a new 
Parliament. 

The Meeting of the 
Long Parliament. — In 
November the Long 
Parliament of the Re- 
bellion, the most famous 
Parliament in English 
history, met at West- 
minster. The king was 
at its mercy ; without money he could neither wage war Green, 
against the Scots nor treat with them to advantage. Sup- pp- S 21 ~5^7- 
ported by popular feeling and by the menace of invasion p lir j faH 
from Scotland, the Commons realized that their opportunity Revolution, 
had come, and, in the words of John Pym, they felt that pp ' IIO ~ 118 - 
" to remove all grievances they must pull up the causes 
of them by the roots." 

A determination to bring the king's ministers to justice 
became at once apparent. Strafford was the first object of 




John Pym 

After a painting by Robert Walker 



308 



The Puritan Revolution 



Impeach- 
ment of 
Strafford. 

Old South 
Leaflets, 
No. 61. 
Source-Book, 
232-237. 



Laud 

imprisoned, 

1640; 

executed, 

1645. 



attack. Under the leadership of Pym, from the outset the 
ruling spirit in the Lower House, the Commons proceeded 
to his impeachment. Strafford was charged with having 
established arbitrary rule in Ireland and with attempting to 
overthrow the liberties of England. In March, 1641, his 
trial was opened in Westminster Hall. Under the exist- 
ing laws of treason, conviction seemed impossible, and 
accordingly for the impeachment was substituted a bill 
of attainder. Even yet Strafford might have been saved 
had not the discovery of a royal plot to overwhelm Parlia- 
ment with the army from the north convinced the peers 
that the man whom all regarded as the mainstay of the 
royal despotism could not safely be allowed to live. The 
attainder was carried with little opposition in either House 
and received the royal signature (May 10, 1641), although 
Charles but a few days before had assured the earl that he 
should not suffer in " life, honor, or fortune." Strafford paid 
the penalty of being behind his generation, of attempting to 
restore a constitution which the nation had outgrown. 

The attack upon Strafford was accompanied by legisla- 
tion limiting the royal prerogative. The courts of the Star 
Chamber and High Commission were abolished, ship-money 
was declared illegal, the power of the crown to levy tonnage 
and poundage or other impositions was denied, and a 
Triennial Act was passed requiring that Parliament should 
meet every three years even if not summoned by the king. 
At the same time Charles was forced to give his assent to a 
bill declaring that the present Parliament could not be dis- 
solved without its own consent. 

The Church Question. — In passing these measures Par- 
liament had worked with great unanimity, but when the 
religious question was taken up, division at once appeared. 
Hostility to Laud and to Laud's innovations was general, 
and there was a widespread desire to limit the power of the 
bishops, but beyond this point there was great difference 
of opinion. Some supported a modified Episcopacy, others 
wished to introduce the Presbyterian system, a few tended 



Insurrection of the Irish Catholics 309 

to the Separatist idea of independent congregations. A 
compromise proposition excluding the bishops from Par- 
liament was passed by the Commons, but was thrown out in 
the House of Lords. This led at once to the introduction 
of a more extreme measure, called the Root and Branch Root and 
Bill, " for the utter abolition " of Episcopacy. Over the Branch Bm - 
Church question the Commons divided. There were now 
two parties, one upholding Episcopacy, the other bent 
upon such changes as would render the tyranny of the 
bishops impossible for the future. In September Parlia- 
ment adjourned. Of the measures passed, all except the 
compulsory clauses of the Triennial Act became a part of 
the permanent constitution. With this first session the 
work of reform was done ; henceforth Parliament was to act 
rather as a committee of safety than as a legislative body. 

The Insurrection of the Irish Catholics. — Before the 
adjournment of Parliament the king had set out for Scot- 
land, in the secret hope of obtaining an army from the Scots 
which he might use against his opponents. Charles still Charles in 
thought to preserve his prerogative undiminished. While Scotland. 
apparently acquiescing in the action of Parliament, he was 
secretly planning to undo all that had been accomplished. 
It was the conviction of this that instigated the extreme 
demands of the Commons. The great obstacle in the way 
of a satisfactory and conservative settlement of the govern- 
ment was the lack of confidence in the king's sincerity. 

While Charles was still in the north endeavoring to win Gardiner, 
over the Scots by conceding all their demands, news arrived Purttan 
from Ireland which greatly lessened the chance of a good pp . II9 I20 . 
understanding between the king and Parliament. For some 
months Charles had dallied with proposals of the Irish 
Catholic lords to send him help in return for permission to 
overturn the Dublin government. Nothing had been set- 
tled when Charles went to Scotland in August. The Irish 
people, maddened by the accumulated wrongs of two gen- 
erations, impatient of delay, and terrified at the prospect 
of falling into the hands of a Puritan Parliament, took mat- 



3io 



The Puritan Revolution 



Old South 
Leaflets, 
No. 24. 
Gardiner, 

Puritan 
Revolution, 

p. 121. 

Green, 

PP- 527-533- 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp. 122-124. 



ters into their own hands. On the 23d of October, 1641, 
the natives of Ulster rose against the English and Scotch 
settlers. The rebellion spread to other parts of the island. 
It was a war of Catholic against Protestant, of Celt against 
Saxon, of the evicted against the usurper. Terrible atroci- 
ties were committed. Some thousands of the aliens were 
slaughtered, women and children perishing with the men. 
A cry for vengeance was raised in England. In the excited 
state of feeling there were many who accused Charles of 
having instigated the rising. Of this he may be acquitted, 
but not of the responsibility for having aroused an out- 
raged people whose furious vengeance he could not control. 
The Grand Remonstrance. — The outbreak in Ireland 
raised a new difficulty. An army would be necessary to 
put down the rebellion. Could the king be trusted with 
forces, which he might turn against Parliament? Pym and 
Hampden answered, No. Under their influence the Grand 
Remonstrance, a statement of grievances, a programme for 
the future, an appeal to the nation, was forced through 
Parliament. This was the critical moment. Failure to 
pass the Grand Remonstrance 
7 .— . would have meant the aban- 

Osf/ly^s/ donment of the struggle by 
f / many patriots. " If the Re- 

monstrance had been re- 

SIGNATURE OF PYM .^^^ ^ q^ ^^^ 

member for Cambridge, " I would have sold all I had, and 
never have seen England any more." Success completed 
the division of the nation into two factions. Lack of 
confidence in the king had forced men to extreme meas- 
ures. The violence of the opposition now led to the 
formation of a royal party. 

This was Charles's opportunity. By allying himself 
frankly with the moderates, he might have won a majority 
in the Commons to his side. But he still hoped to avoid 
damaging concessions. In November, 1641, the king 
issued a declaration affirming his loyalty to the Church, 




The Civil War 311 

and called Hyde and Falkland, leaders of the moderates, 
to his counsels, but other measures showed a determination 
to resort to force. Excitement was growing both in Parlia- 
ment and in the country. Brawls between the supporters 
of the king and the Parliament's men occurred daily in 
the streets of London. 1 The Commons pushed forward a 
bill to exclude the bishops and the Catholic peers from the 
House of Lords. Charles now determined on a bold step. Attack on 
He caused five of the leaders of the Commons, including the five 
Pym and Hampden, to be impeached on the charge of 
treason. That they might not escape, he resolved to have Source-Book, 
them arrested in their places in the House. He was urged 2 3/-24o- 
to this step by the queen, his faithful supporter and his 
evil genius. The attempt failed, but it made complete the 
breach between the king and Parliament. The struggle 
that now followed as to the command of the militia showed 
that both sides looked forward to a settlement by force. 
But Charles had already left London, not to return until 
brought back a prisoner. 

The Civil War. — The early months of 1642 were spent 
by both parties in making preparations for war. The queen, 
taking with her the crown jewels, went to Holland to raise 
money. Parliament voted supplies and called out the militia. 
Charles issued a commission of array. 2 The country ranged Gardiner, 
itself on one side or the other, as conviction or interest Puritan 
dictated. With the king were most of the great nobles, J^'S-i'k 
many of the gentry, and the peasants. The Catholics and 130, 131. 
the High Church party were also on his side. A few of the Division of 
nobles, the bulk of the lesser gentry, the yeomanry, Lon- the nation. 
don, and most of the towns, rallied to Parliament. As a 
whole the backward portions of the country, the north and 
the west, were Royalist, while the eastern counties, the most 
advanced part of England, were strong for Parliament. 

1 It was now that the nicknames of " Roundhead " and " Cavalier " were 
first heard. 

2 Mandates sent to trustworthy persons to raise troops in the king's 
name. 




6 West 4 



3 Longitude 



The Solemn League and Covenant 313 

Both parties were hampered by financial difficulties, but 
in this respect Parliament was in a better position than the 
king. As nominally representative of the nation in matters 
of taxation it controlled the regular ways of raising money. 
Besides, it had the support of London and the moneyed 
classes generally. Charles was forced to depend upon the 
generosity of his followers, and their devotion was un- 
bounded. Plate, jewels, everything that could be turned into 
money, were put at the king's service by the Royalist nobles. 

On the 23d of August the royal standard was raised at Green, 
Nottingham, and the war formally opened. The Earl of PP- 533-535- 
Essex was put in command of the Parliamentary forces. On 
the Royalist side the leader was Prince Rupert, the king's 
nephew. The first battle of the war was fought at Edgehill, 
and the royal forces had the advantage. During the next 
•avo years there was fighting all over England, the important 
centres of action being in Yorkshire and the west, around 
Oxford, where the king made his headquarters, and Lon- 
lon, where the Parliament was in continued session. But 
the war dragged. Neither side desired too complete a 
victory. Many among Charles's supporters feared that he 
would use success to reestablish abuses that had been over- 
thrown. Some on the opposite side saw in the removal of 
all restraints danger of a Parliamentary tyranny which they 
dreaded as much as royal despotism. On the whole, suc- 
cess was with the king. He had better generals, and his cav- 
alry, the most important and most efficient arm of the service, 
was boldly if not always wisely led by Prince Rupert. The 
Parliamentary levies were largely composed of the rabble of 
the towns, and contained at best but few men of military 
training. The opening of the year 1644 found the king in 
possession of almost two-thirds of England and Wales. 

The Solemn League and Covenant. — Parliament began Gardiner, 
now to retrieve its position. In the autumn of 1643 there Puritan 
had been concluded an alliance with Scotland. By the ' 131-133. 
Solemn League and Covenant, Parliament was bound to 
establish Presbyterianism in England. In return the Round- 



314 



The Puritan Revolution 



Death of 
Pym, 1643. 

Green, 

PP. 535-540. 
Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp. 128-130, 
137, I3 8 - 



Marston 
Moor, 1644. 



Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp. 134-139. 

Green, 

PP- 559-563. 



heads received the support of a large force of Scots led by 
Leslie, Earl of Leven. The treaty with Scotland was Pym's 
last service to the Parliamentary cause. He died before 
the year was out. 

Oliver Cromwell. — But a greater man than Pym was 
coming into prominence. Oliver Cromwell, member for 
Cambridge, was, like Pym and Eliot and Hampden, a sim- 
ple country gentleman of good birth and fair estate. When 
the civil war broke out, he was appointed captain of a troop 
of horse. He was a born cavalry leader and little by little 
became the guiding spirit in military affairs on the Parlia- 
mentary side. Cromwell was the first to point out the 
defects of the Parliamentary army and to indicate the 
remedy. After the battle of Edgehill he said to Hampden, 
" You must get men of a spirit that is likely to go as far as 
gentlemen will go." He would match cavalier loyalty by 
spiritual zeal, and he filled his troops with men who, as he 
said, " made some conscience of what they did." The 
few successes of the Roundheads were gained mainly by 
Cromwell. Through his efforts the Eastern Association 
was formed and the counties on the east were kept free 
from Royalist invasion. Finally, at the battle of Marston 
Moor (July 2, 1644), the first great battle of the war, he 
turned what had seemed defeat into an overwhelming victory. 
Rise of Independency. — Serious divisions were becoming 
manifest among the Parliamentarians. On one side was 
the Presbyterian party, in control of Parliament, intent on 
establishing the Scotch doctrine and discipline and disin- 
clined through loyalty or conservatism to push matters to 
an extremity with the king. On the other side were the 
Independents, so called because they favored the Separatist 
idea of independent congregations without any general 
ecclesiastical organization. To the Independent party be- 
longed many of the stronger Puritans, men who cared little 
for dogma and outward form and much for holiness of liv- 
ing. In opposition to the dogmatism of the Presbyterians, 
they upheld the idea of toleration. Foremost among the 



The Self-denying Ordinance 315 

Independents was Cromwell. Church systems were to him 
a matter of indifference, and he had filled his own regi- 
ments, popularly called the Ironsides, with upholders of 
every variety of Puritan belief, but all good men and good 
soldiers. The needs of the contest as well as his own temper 
made Cromwell tolerant. He was bent on carrying the 
war through to a speedy and triumphant conclusion, and 
he saw that Parliament could not afford to lose the services 
of good fighting men simply because they were not in 
accord with the dominant doctrinal views. To one of the 
Presbyterian generals, he wrote in warning, "Take heed of 
being sharp, or too easily sharpened by others against those 
to whom you can object little but that they square not with 
you in every opinion concerning matters of religion." 

The Self-denying Ordinance. — Early in 1645 Cromwell Gardiner, 
and those who were bent on a more vigorous prosecution Puritan. 
of the war, succeeded in carrying through Parliament a pp i 39 _' I4 3. 
Self-denying Ordinance, by which members of either House Green, 
were made ineligible for command in the army. The pp " 55 6 -559- 
object was to get rid of Essex and Manchester, the aristo- 
cratic and incompetent generals who had hitherto hampered 
the military measures of Parliament. Cromwell resigned 
his seat, together with the other officers, but an exception 
was made in his favor. He was allowed to retain his place 
in the House while serving as lieutenant-general with com- 
mand of the cavalry. At the same time a bill was passed 
reorganizing the army. In the hands of Cromwell the 
"New Model," as the reconstituted force was called, be- The New 
came the most remarkable army that the world has ever Model - 
seen. It was not merely a perfect body of soldiers, unsur- 
passed in courage, training, and discipline. It was also 
an organized force of religious and political reformers, 
representing what was noblest and strongest in Puritanism. 
Most of the officers were Independents or belonged to 
some other of the new sects, and the controlling element 
among the soldiers was strongly Puritan. In the New 
Model the citizen was never lost in the soldier ; each man 



3i6 



The Puritan Revolution 



Naseby 
1645. 



knew for what he was fighting, and, the end once attained, 
he was eager to return to his home and calling. Such a 
force led by the genius of Cromwell was irresistible. 

Naseby and the End of the War. — In the meantime 
Charles sought aid in every direction. He had hope of 
obtaining soldiers from France and from Lorraine. He 
strove to win the support of the Irish by promising to sus- 
pend all penal acts against the Catholics. He even agreed 
secretly to grant the supremacy of the Catholic Church in 
Ireland if aid could be obtained in no other way. He 
also tried to win the support of the Scotch, and his agent, 
Montrose, planned a diversion in the Highlands which 
would necessitate the recall of the Scottish army. But the 
energy of Cromwell left Charles little time to carry out his 
irreconcilable schemes. On the 14th of June, 1645, tne 
Royalist forces and the New Model met at Naseby. The 
contest was a repetition of Marston Moor, and the victory 
of Parliament was complete. In September, Montrose 
suffered a disastrous defeat at Philiphaugh. One by one, 
Bristol, Basing, and the other Royalist strongholds were 
reduced. By the summer of 1646 Charles had no longer 
an army in the field. 

Negotiation and Intrigue. — Charles was hopelessly beaten 
in war, but his cause was not yet lost. In the diverse 
opinions of his foes lay a chance of wringing victory from 
defeat. Parliament was in the hands of fanatical Presby- 
PP- 547-55 2 - terians, who feared and detested the army with its ideas of 
toleration. It had lost touch with the nation, but it still 
had the support of London, and it was the one legal and 
constitutional authority that remained. The army wished 
to restrain both king and Parliament in the interests of 
civil and religious liberty. Power was with the army, but 
as a military body it was unfit for the task of reorgan- 
izing the government, and it had no shadow of constitu- 
tional right. 

Charles was skilful in taking advantage of these divi- 
sions, and for the next two years he carried on a series of 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution, 
pp. 144-149 
Green, 




4 i^ 







■? i ^ $ 






<^ 



'S o 



3i' 



The Puritan Revolution 



intrigues with the different parties among his opponents, 
being, as he said, " not without hope that I shall be able 
to draw Presbyterians or Independents to side with me for 
extirpating one another, that I shall be really king again." 

The Newcastle Propositions. — After the dispersal of his 
forces Charles took refuge with the Scotch army at Newark. 
On the 17th of July proposals for peace from the Scots and 
Parliament were presented to Charles at Newcastle. The 
king was asked to accept the Covenant, to support Presby- 
terianism, and to give over the control of the militia to Par- 




Carisdrooke Castle 

After an original drawing by G. Holmes 

liament for twenty years. On Charles's refusal to agree to 
these terms the Scots placed him in the hands of the English 
commissioners, 1 and withdrew northwards. Parliament be- 
gan to show a willingness to lessen its demands. The truth 
was, it was chiefly intent on getting rid of the army, which 
it was now proposing to disband. The danger that men- 
aced Independency and religious liberty aroused the sol- 
diers. They organized as a body politic, and chose repre- 
sentatives, called Agitators, who were to consult together 
on all important matters. In the summer of 1647 tne Y 
seized the king and carried him, not unwillingly, to New- 

1 In exchange for arrears due the army, amounting to ^400,000. 



y##^ 




Trial of Charles I 

From a Print in Nalson's Report of the Trial, 1664. The description of this print 
(in Nalson's Report) ends: "The pageant of this mock tribunal is thus 
represented to your view by an eye- and ear-witness of what he heard and 
saw there." 



A, the King 

B, the Lord President, Bradshaw 

C, John Lisle I BradsWs Assistants 

D, Wm. Say I 

E, Andrew Broughton | Clerks of the 

F, John Phelps f Court 



j The Arms of the 
G Oliver Cromwell ( Commonwealth 
H, Henry Marten \ oyer them 

I, Coke 



L, Aske 



( Counsellors for the 



319 



320 



The Puritan Revolution 



Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp. 149-153- 

Green, 

PP- 552-55=5. 



Pride's 
Purge, 1648. 



market. At the. same time they refused to disband until a 
satisfactory settlement of the kingdom had been made. 

The Heads of the Proposals. — During the next few months 
Cromwell and the leading Independents strove to come to 
terms with Charles. Their conditions as presented in the 
Heads of the Proposals were wise and moderate. They 
demanded electoral reform and biennial Parliaments. 
There was to be religious liberty for all except the Catho- 
lics. For ten years the crown was to give up control of 
the army and navy. On the king's refusal to accept these 
terms some of the more advanced Agitators proposed a 
constitution still more democratic in character, 1 and in 
their efforts to force it upon the generals there was danger 
of a contest in the army. 

The Second Civil War. — Charles had for some time been 
secretly negotiating with the Scots, and he finally entered 
into an engagement to establish Presbyterianism in England 
for three years in return for the support of a Scottish army. 
He was now rewarded by seeing two of his opponents 
come to blows. In 1648 a large force of Scots crossed the 
Border. The Royalists rallied again. Wales broke out in 
insurrection. The war was sharp and short. At Preston 
on the 17th of August Cromwell won a great victory over 
the Scottish army. The Royalist cause was lost. 

Trial and Execution of the King. — But the patience of 
the army was exhausted ; many were beginning to feel that a 
settlement of the country was impossible so long as Charles 
lived. Parliament still refused to come to an understand- 
ing with the Independents, and renewed negotiations with 
the king, who, in the meantime, had entered into an in- 
trigue with the Irish Catholics. On the 6th of December 
a detachment of soldiers, under Colonel Pride, arrested 
the leaders of the Presbyterian party at the doors of the 
House of Commons. Pride's Purge, as this act of violence 
was popularly called, left the Independents in control of 
Parliament. A High Court of Justice was appointed to 

1 The Agreement of the People, Old South Leaflets, No. 26. 



Charles II and Scotland 321 

try the king, who had been brought from Carisbrooke 
Castle, where he had been held a prisoner since the out- 
break of the Scotch war. Charles refused to acknowledge 
the authority of the new tribunal, but nothing could save 
him. He was condemned to death as a " tyrant, traitor, 
and murderer." On the 29th of January he was beheaded 
before Whitehall. He died like a saint and a hero. 

The Establishment of the Commonwealth. — The death of Gardiner, 
the king was followed by the establishment of a republic. Puritan 
Monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished as useless J? ^™^ 
and dangerous, and England was declared to be a free Com- 
monwealth and therefore to be governed by representatives Source-Book, 
of the people without any king or hereditary house. The 2 5 I - 26 °- 
remnant of the Long Parliament, derisively called the 
Rump, assumed the name of Parliament, and appointed 
forty-one persons to act as an Executive Council of State. 
Power, however, belonged to the army and to its great 
leader, Cromwell, and the history of the next ten years is 
the history of their attempt to rule England. 

Conquest of Ireland. — England's immediate danger was Green, 
from without. Foreign powers did not recognize the new pp- 574. 575. 
republic. Ireland was almost wholly in the hands of the 5 9 ' 59 °' 
Stuart party, while Scotland offered to Prince Charles the 
crown. The reconquest of Ireland was Cromwell's first task. 
He landed at Dublin in August, 1649, with a force of nine 
thousand men. On September nth, Drogheda was carried 
by storm and two thousand of the garrison were put to the 
sword. The fall of Wexford followed, accompanied by 
similar slaughter. During the next few months town after 
town surrendered, and when Cromwell returned to England 
in the spring of 1650 the reconquest was assured. Out of 
a population of a million and a half, almost six hundred 
thousand had perished in the nine years of war. 

The restoration of English ascendency was followed by The 

wholesale confiscations. Almost all the land of the Irish Cromwellian 

-r • tti t -l. 11 , 1 settlement. 

in Leinster, Ulster, and Munster, the three largest and 

richest provinces, was divided among the soldiers of Crom- 



TJie Settlement of'^the Government 323 

well's army and the adventurers who had contributed money 
for carrying on the war. To the Irish landowners nothing 
was left but the rocks and bogs of Connaught. 

Charles II and Scotland. — In the summer- of 1650 Prince Green, 
Charles, convinced that there was no Alternative, accepted pp- 576-578. 
the Covenant, and was acknowledged king by the Scotch. 
The contest was immediatelyLreriewed. At the head of a 
large army Cromwell invaded Scotland, and on the 3d of 
September he won the great- victory of Dunbar. During Dunbar, 
the following months a large part of Scotland was con- l6 5°- 
quered. Finally, in a last effort to rally the English Roy- 
alists, Charles made a bold dash across the Border. At 
Worcester he was overtaken by the army of the Common- Worcester, 
wealth, and there, on the 3d of September, 165 1, the last l6 5 J - 
battle of the war was fought. Cromwell won an over- 
whelming victory. Charles was forced to seek safety in 
flight to the Continent, and the Royalists were too much 
broken to think of rallying again. 

The union of the two kingdoms followed. In sharp con- 
trast to the merciless treatment of Ireland, the rule of the 
Commonwealth in Scotland was just and wise. It was 
Burnet, a Scotchman and an enemy to Cromwell, who de- 
clared, "we always reckon these eight years of the usurpa- 
tion a time of great peace and prosperity." 

The Settlement of the Government. — From the work of 
subduing Ireland and Scotland Cromwell turned to the far 
more complicated task of restoring order to England. The 
difficulties in the way of a settlement seemed unsurmount- 
able. While the nation was still hot with the passions of 
civil war, with the whole local machinery disordered, a 
government was to be organized where there was no agree- 
ment as to principle. Dividing Royalists and Parliamenta- 
rians was the execution of the king. The question of 
toleration sundered Presbyterians and Independents. Even 
in the army Cromwell met with opposition. There was an 
active republican party. The disorders of the time had 
given rise to all kinds of extravagant opinions. The ideals 



324 



The Puritan Revolution 



Gardiner, 
Puritan 

Revolution, 
pp. 159, 160. 



End of the 
Long Parlia- 
ment, 1653. 



Green, 

pp. 561-565. 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp. 162, 163. 

Old South 

Leaflets, 

No. 28. 

Gardiner, 

Pur/tan 

Revolution, 

pp. 164-166. 

Green, 

pp. 565-567- 



Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp. 166-171. 

Green, 

PP- 567-S70. 

Old South 

Leaflets, 

No. 27. 



of Cromwell were not the ideals of the nation, and to allow 
the people to have their way meant to give up most of those 
things for which the Independents had fought. For this 
Cromwell was not ready. He was not, however, by nature 
a despot, and over and over he attempted to secure the 
cooperation of the people. 

The Long Parliament was fast becoming unpopular. The 
members showed little desire to bring about that speedy 
settlement of the country for which the army contended, 
and charges of corruption were freely raised against them. 
Almost thirteen years had elapsed since the last election. 
Parliament had lost over two-thirds of its membership, and 
nevertheless, in spite of Cromwell's repeated urging, it 
showed no readiness to dissolve itself. At last patience 
was exhausted. Cromwell rose one day in his seat in the 
House, crying, "I will put an end to this. It is not fit 
that you should sit here any longer," and he commanded 
his soldiers to clear the hall. 

Cromwell was now master of the country, but he did not 
wish to rule alone, and he shrank from calling for new elections. 
So he summoned to his aid " godly men to rule until the 
people were fitted to act." The new assembly was called in 
derision Barebone's Parliament, because a certain Praise-God 
Barebone sat in it. It contained many men of character and 
position, but unfortunately most of the members were vision- 
aries, who at once attempted extravagant reforms. Crom- 
well's strong common sense was opposed to such a course, 
and he induced the assembly to declare its own dissolution. 

The Instrument of Government and the Protectorate. — The 
next scheme of government had what Cromwell had always 
advocated, "somewhat of monarchy in it." By the Instru- 
ment of Government, a constitutional document drawn up 
by some of Cromwell's supporters, power was vested in a 
Protector, a Council of State, and a Parliament of a single 
house. There was to be a redistribution of seats in Eng- 
land, depriving small hamlets of the franchise while giv- 
ing votes to the new towns and more populous counties, 



The Instrument of Government 325 

and representation was accorded to Ireland and Scotland. 
By a system of checks and constitutional limitations all 
danger of either executive or Parliamentary absolutism 




Ufizzi, Florence. Painted by Van der Plaas; generally ascribed to Sir 
Peter Lely 

was to be averted. Cromwell was named Protector, with 
command of the army and navy. In September, 1654, the 
first Parliament under the Instrument came together. It 
proceeded at once to question the authority of the docu- 



326 



The Puritan Revolution 



Old South 
Leaflets, 
No. 62. 

Green, 
P- 57i- 

Gardiner, 
Puritan 
Revolution , 
pp. 172, 173. 



Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp. 176-180. 

Green, 

PP- 593-597- 



merit under which it had been chosen, and asserted its 
claim to frame a new constitution. Finding that he could 
not control the House, Cromwell dissolved it. 

During the next eighteen months England was under 
military rule. Republican and Royalist plots to overthrow 
the government were discovered, and there was much oppo- 
sition to Cromwell's attempt to collect the taxes as author- 
ized by the Instrument. Heitherefore had resort to martial 
law, and dividing England into ten districts, placed a 
major-general over each, with power to maintain order and 
to collect the revenue. 

The Humble Petition and Advice. — In 1656 need of 
money for the war with Spain led Cromwell to make 
another attempt to secure the aid of Parliament in carry- 
ing on the government. To avoid the contest for authority 
which was sure to arise with a freely elected House, one 
hundred of the members returned most likely to oppose 
the Protector were excluded at the opening of the session. 
The remaining members showed great docility, and with a 
desire to strengthen Cromwell's position proceeded to amend 
the Instrument by drawing up the Petition and Advice. 
There was to be an Upper House, and the Protector was 
given the power of naming his successor. It was also pro- 
posed that he should take the title of king, but Cromwell 
would not agree to this, no doubt because of the opposition 
of the army. The Petition and Advice showed a return to 
the forms of the old constitution, but it brought no improve- 
ment in the working of the government. In January, 1658, 
Parliament met under the new arrangement, but the two 
Houses fell at once to quarrelling. After a session of two 
weeks Cromwell ordered a dissolution. "The Lord," he 
said, "judge between me and you." This was Cromwell's 
last attempt to establish a Parliamentary government. 

Foreign Relations. — The foreign policy of the Puritan 
government was vigorous and brilliantly successful. Crom- 
well's genius gained for England a greater place in Europe 
than that which she had secured under Elizabeth and lost 



Ave?ige, O 
Lord, thy 



The Navigation Act 327 

under James. The close of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 
marks the transition from religious to commercial and politi- 
cal considerations as the determining force in the inter- 
national politics of Europe. The Puritan Commonwealth 
could not fail, however, to take some account of religion in 
its foreign policy. Cromwell's declared object was to estab- 
lish a union of Protestant Europe under England's leader- See Milton's 
ship. A proposed alliance wit* France was delayed until the sonnet . 
persecution of the Vaudois ! had been stopped, and war was 
waged against Spain in part at least because of her tradi- slaughtered 
tional position as the great Catholic power of Europe ; but sainis - 
the chief work of the Puritan government was not concerned 
with religion. The most durable achievement of the Pro- 
tectorate was to break down the trading monopolies of the 
Dutch and Spanish in Europe and in America, and to lay 
the foundations of England's maritime supremacy. 

The Navigation Act. — Commercial rivalry between the Bright, 11, 
Dutch and the English had existed since the time of pp- 698-701. 
James I. In 1650 the Dutch were at the height of their 
power. Their merchant vessels were the best in the world, Gardiner, 
and they had a monopoly of the carrying trade of Europe. Puritan 

, , r. 1- , f lT . . . Revolution, 

In 1 65 1 the Long Parliament passed the Navigation Act, p l62 
the first of a series of measures intended to build up Eng- 
lish commerce. The importation of goods into England Am. Hist. 
except in English vessels or in the ships of the country leaflets, 
which produced the goods was forbidden. The Navigation 
Act dealt a severe blow to the Dutch carrying trade, and 
led in 1652 to a war with Holland. Under the manage- Traill, IV, 
ment of Sir Henry Vane the English navy had been put in pp - 26 4- 2 7° 
fine condition, partly as a counterpoise to the army. In 
command of the fleet was Blake, England's greatest seaman 
before Nelson. Opposed to Blake was the famous Dutch 
admiral, Van Tromp. The two fleets were well matched, 
and a series of bloody fights took place during the two 
years of the war. In the end the States were forced to treat 

1 A sect inhabiting the valleys of Piedmont and professing a Protestantism 
which antedates the Reformation. 



328 



The Puritan Revolution 



Green, 

PP- 591-593- 

596. 

Gardiner, 

Puritan 

Revolution, 

pp. 174, 175, 



Green, 

PP- 572, 573- 



for peace. The maritime ascendency of England began 
with the decline of the Dutch naval power. 

War with Spain. — The hostility of Europe was soon 
converted to a desire for the friendship of the Common- 
wealth. When Cromwell met Parliament in 1654 he could 
truly say, "There is not a nation in Europe but is very 
willing to ask a good understanding with you." Spain and 
France were then at war. Cromwell first offered his sup- 
port to Spain in return for Dunkirk and aid in the recon- 
quest of Calais. In addition he demanded freedom of 
commerce in the West Indies and religious liberty for the 
English living under the Spanish government. These terms 
were refused, and thereupon Cromwell sent Blake to attack 
the Spanish West Indies, and offered England's alliance to 
France. This line of policy was crowned with success. 
Dunkirk surrendered to the French and was placed in English 
hands, the Spanish fleets were destroyed by Blake, Jamaica 
passed into the possession of England, and Spain's commer- 
cial monopoly was finally broken. But England's weight had 
been thrown on the side of France, a growing and ambitious 
power, destined to become a dangerous rival. 

England under Puritan Rule. — The triumphs of the Com- 
monwealth abroad filled even its opponents with pride. 
Nor were grounds for satisfaction entirely lacking at home. 

Cromwell's rule was stern, but he rarely used violence or 
unnecessary severity. Provided his authority was respected, 
there was little interference with individual rights. Order 
was well maintained, and all risings, whether of Royalists 
or Levellers, 1 were put down with a strong hand. Taxation 
was heavy, but industry was not unduly burdened. The 
Royalists were taxed at a higher rate than others, on the 
ground that their hostility made necessary the large and 
costly military establishment. By an ordinance issued in 
1654, the Church was reorganized. Religious worship was 
to be established. Tithes were retained and the rights of 
patronage were respected. A board of Triers was appointed 

1 A party holding extreme democratic opinions. 



Fall of the Commonwealth 329 

to examine into the fitness of ministers presented to livings. 
So long as a man was of godly life it mattered not whether 
he was a Presbyterian or an Independent. Toleration was 
the principle and, with some exceptions, the practice of 
Cromwell's government. At first there was little interfer- 
ence with the Episcopalians, but after a time the Anglican 
worship was prohibited as tending to stir up disaffection. 
The prohibition was not, however, rigorously enforced, and 
zealous worshippers continued to meet, only more privately. 
Some protection was given to Catholics, and the Jews, who 
had been excluded from England since the time of Edward I, 
were permitted to return. Had Cromwell lived longer he 
might have effected many improvements. The reform of 
the courts and the equalizing of the electoral system were 
matters that he had at heart. But Cromwell's work was Death of 
done. He and his generation were hopelessly at odds. Crom well, 
He was as far in advance of his age as Strafford was behind 
it. On the 3d of September, the anniversary of Dunbar Green, p. 598, 
and Worcester, he died, worn out with grief and anxiety. 

Fall of the Commonwealth. — Richard Cromwell, Oliver's Green, 
eldest son, was made Protector, but he could not succeed P p- 59 8 -6oo. 
where his father had failed. His desire was to lean upon 
the new Parliament, which was convened in January, 1659, 
but the army forced him to order a dissolution. A month 
later Richard abdicated. During the next few weeks 
power was in the hands of the soldiers. They replaced 
the Rump at Westminster, but when it strove to rule they 
overthrew it. After a brief attempt at military government, 
they again restored Parliament. General Monk, who was Monk, 
in command of the forces in Scotland, determined to put 
an end to the anarchy. At the head of his army he marched 
to London and declared for a free Parliament. He found 
support on all sides. The nation was weary of martial 
rule, and even the Presbyterians demanded the return of 
the old dynasty. The army, tricked and abandoned by 
its leaders, could make no opposition. Negotiations were 
opened with Charles II, who finally signed a declaration, 



330 



The Puritan Revolution 



Recall of the 
Stuarts, 1660. 



known as the Declaration of Breda, agreeing to such a set- 
tlement of the country as Parliament should approve. On 
the 1st of May, 1660, the new Parliament 1 resolved that, 
" according to the ancient and fundamental laws of this 
Kingdom, the Government is, and ought to be, by King, 
Lords, and Commons." A month later Charles landed at 
Dover amidst rejoicing crowds. 

The Failure of Puritanism. — The Puritan rebellion had 
ended in apparent failure. In the contest against the 
despotism of the second Stuart, Parliament and the nation 
were victorious, but religious differences aroused strife 
among the conquerors. The cause of religious liberty 
triumphed with Cromwell, but the victory was based on 
force, and found little response in the nation, not yet 
ready for the ideals of the Puritan leader. The result was 
the reaction which we call the Restoration. The over- 
severity of Puritan rule led to the shamelessness of society 
under the third Stuart. Toleration at the point of the 

sword ended in the penal 
code against dissent. The 
outcome of the execution 
of Charles was the doc- 
trine of non-resistance. 
Nevertheless, Puritanism 
was far from dead. The 
spirit that found expres- 
sion in the writings of 
Milton and Banyan left 
a lasting impress on the 
national character. Nor 
Seal of the Commonwealth was the work of the Puri- 

tan revolution lost with the fall of the Commonwealth. A 
generation later it won its real triumph in the Bill of Rights 
and the Act of Toleration establishing the principles of 
constitutional rule and religious freedom. 

1 Known as a Convention or Convention Parliament, because a king 
had not called it. 




Important Events 331 



Important Events 

James I, 1603-1625. 

Hampton Court Conference, 1604. 
Founding of Jamestown, 1607. 
Beginning of Thirty Years 1 War, 1618. 
Founding of Plymouth, 1620. 
Impeachment of Bacon, 1621. 

Charles I, 1 625-1 649. 

Petition of Right, 1628. 

Assassination of Buckingham, 1628. 

Founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1629. 

Personal government, 1 629-1 640. 

Ship-money decision, 1638. 

War with Scotland, 1639. 

Meeting of Long Parliament, 1640. 

Execution of Strafford, 1641. 

Outbreak of Civil War, 1642. 

Solemn League and Covenant, 1643. 

Naseby, 1645. 

Second Civil War, 1648. 

Pride's Purge, 1648. 

Execution of Charles, 1649. 

Commonwealth and Protectorate, i 649-1 66c, 
Worcester, 1651. 
Navigation Act, 1651. 
Expulsion of Rump, 1653. 
Establishment of a Protectorate, 1653. 
Jamaica conquered, 1655. 
Death of Cromwell, 1658. 
Recall of the Stuarts, 1660. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE RESTORATION AND THE REVOLUTION 
Books for Consultation 



Adams and Stephens, Henderson, Hill, as before. 

Pepys, Diary and Correspondence. 

Defoe, Journal of the Plague, 1665. 

Evelyn, Diary and Correspondence. 

Taylor, England under Charles II. 

Figgis, English History from Original Sources. 

Special Authorities 

Lingard, History of England. 

Macaulay, History of England. 

Hallam, Trevelyan, as before. 

Lodge, Political History of England, Vol. VIII. 

Traill, Shaftesbury, William III, Social England, IV. 

Macaulay, Essays on Sir William Temple, and on the Comic Dramatists 

of the Restoration. 
Scott, Prince Rupert. 

Imaginative Literature 

Scott, Old Mortality, Peveril of the Peak. 
Shorthouse, John Inglesant. 

Green, The Return of Charles II. — The recall of the Stuarts did 

pp. 602-605. not mean tnat the wor k of the last twenty years was to be 

Bright, 11, all undone. The overthrow of the Commonwealth had been 

722-726. brought about by a party which desired a settlement of the 

government in accordance with the constitutional relations 

that existed at the close of the first session of the Long Par- 

332 



The Return of Charles II 



333 



liament. To the people generally the restoration of the 
monarchy meant a return to government by king and Parlia- 
ment. Charles II was shrewd enough to realize this, and 
the men whom he called to his council were moderate in 
temper, Royalists or Presbyterians. Edward Hyde, later 
Earl of Clarendon, was appointed chancellor. A leader of 
the Long Parliament during its first session, then the faithful 
adviser of Charles I, Clarendon now became Charles IPs 
chief minister. 




The Ship Naseby, later the Royal Charles 
On which Charles II returned to England 



government 



The Convention Parliament continued to sit during the Settlement 
year 1660. Its duty was to execute the articles of the ofthe 
Declaration of Breda, and to provide for the needs of 
the crown. An Act of Amnesty was passed, but most of the 
late king's judges were excepted, and in the end thirteen of 
the regicides, together with Sir Harry Vane, were executed. 
Milton barely escaped prosecution. The body of Cromwell 
was dragged from its tomb in Westminster Abbey, and 
hanged, and the bodies of Pym and Blake were dug up and 
thrown into a common pit. A great deal of property had 
changed hands during the revolution, through confiscation, or 
sales often more or less forced. The Church and the king 



334 



The Restoration and the Revolution 



Bright, 
726. 



Green, 
pp. 619-625. 
Bright, II, 
726-728,732. 



Act of 

Uniformity, 

1662. 



received back their lands, but private sales were declared 
valid. The horror of military rule was shown by the speed 
with which the army of the Commonwealth was disbanded, 
only two regiments being retained. Feudal dues and pur- 
veyance were abolished, and their place was supplied by 
an excise. Tonnage and poundage were granted the king 
for life, and the whole revenue of the crown was fixed at 
;£i, 200,000 a year. An attempt to settle the Church by a 
compromise establishing a form of government partly Epis- 
copal and partly Presbyterian in character was wrecked by 
the fear that it might open the way to toleration of Roman 
Catholics. This question remained undecided when the 
Convention was dissolved. 

The Cavalier Parliament. — The tide of loyalty was rising 
fast. The Parliament called in 1661 was fired with zeal for 
Church and king. It included not more than fifty Presby- 
terians, and its reactionary temper was at once apparent. 
Every member was ordered to receive the communion ac- 
cording to the rites of the Anglican Church, and the League 
and Covenant was solemnly burnt in Westminster Hall. 
Formal resolutions were passed declaring that there was no 
legislative power in Parliament without the royal sanction, 
that the king was the rightful commander of all forces, and 
that it was unlawful for either House to make war against 
the crown. 

Settlement of the Church. — The most important task of 
the new Parliament was the settlement of the religious ques- 
tion. A conference called in April at the Savoy Palace be- 
tween Presbyterian and Episcopalian divines showed great 
bitterness of feeling and failed to devise a basis of com- 
promise. The whole question was left to Parliament. The 
chief characteristics of the predominant element in the 
nation were devotion to the English Church and detestation 
of Roman Catholics and Nonconformists, and legislation 
reflected this temper. In 1662 an Act of Uniformity was 
passed requiring all clergymen and schoolmasters and fel- 
lows of colleges to accept unfeignedly everything contained 



Settlement of the C lunch 335 

in the prayer book. As a result, nearly two thousand 
clergymen, abo"t one-fifth of the whole number, including 
the most learned and active men in the Church, were de- 
prived of their charges. They were the leaders of the 
party which had continued to hold to the early Puritan 
idea of remaining within the national Church in the hope of 
moulding it. They were now forced to establish com- 
munions outside of the Church. Together with the Inde- 
pendents, Baptists, Quakers, and other sects, they formed a 
large Nonconformist body. 




(the famous petition crown) 



The apprehension with which Dissenters ' were regarded Penal 
was shown in a series of penal statutes. The towns were statutes 
the stronghold of Presbyterianism, and in 1661 the Corpora- Dissenters, 
tion Act was passed, requiring all holders of municipal office 
to take the Sacrament in accordance with the rites of the 
Anglican Church, to renounce the Covenant, and to take 
the oath of non-resistance. 2 By the Conventicle Act of 
1664, religious meetings where more than four persons in 
addition to the household came together were prohibited 
unless in accordance with the forms of the established 
Church. A third violation of this law was punished by 

1 So the Nonconformists were now commonly called. 

2 Doctrine of non-resistance as embodied in the oath of allegiance: 
"I, A B, do declare and believe that it is not lawful upon any pretence 
whatever to take up arms against the king." 



336 



The Restoration and the Revolution 



Source- Book, 
pp. 268-270. 



Bright, II, 

735-737- 

Green, 

pp. 628,629, 

635- 



transportation. Another restrictive measure was passed 
under circumstances of peculiar infamy. In 1665 the 
plague was raging in London and most of the established 
clergy had fled in panic. The Dissenters, a far more earnest 
set of men, undertook the duties so abandoned, tending the 
sick and holding funeral services. Parliament, at a safe 
distance in Oxford, where it had gone to avoid the plague, 
passed the Five-Mile Act, forbidding all clergymen who had 
not subscribed the Act of Uniformity or who would not 
swear to the doctrine of passive obedience and take an oath 
never to "endeavour any alteration of government in Church 
or State," to come within five miles of a town or Parliament 
borough. 

The Dutch War. — Under Charles II the old strife between 
England and Holland was renewed. The commercial rivalry 
of the two countries was growing keener and disputes oc- 
curred daily, but thus far the Dutch retained their superi- 
ority. From the outset Charles had shown genuine interest 
in the development of English colonies and trade, but his 
opposition to Holland was strengthened by personal resent- 
ment for insults received from the Dutch government during 
his exile. 

Quarrels between Dutch and English merchants on the 
coast of Guinea led to hostilities between the two countries 
in 1664, although there was no formal declaration of war until 
the year following. In England the war was popular, and 
Parliament voted what was then the very large grant of 
^2,500,000 to carry it on. Success was at first on the side 
of the English. They gained possession of the Dutch colo- 
nies on the Hudson and in the West Indies, and in June, 
1665, the fleet under the Duke of York, brother of the king, 
won a great victory off Lowestoft. The next year the tide 
turned. After a contest of two days the Dutch, commanded 
by De Ruyter, succeeded in defeating the English in the 
Downs. On the whole, England was superior in ships and 
gunnery, but this advantage was lost through the bad man- 
agement and corruption of the government. The generous 



Fall of Clarendon 337 

grants of Parliament for carrying on the war were appropri- 
ated to the king's pleasure, and in 1667, in the mistaken 
expectation that peace was at hand, the fleet was dismantled. Source-Book 
The coast of England lay unprotected, and at once De Ruyter PP- 2 74. as- 
sailed up the Thames and burnt the shipping in the Medway. 
For several days London was held in a state of blockade, 
but the Dutch did not push their advantage, for they were 
desirous to bring the war to an end. Bound by treaty obliga- 
tions, France had joined Holland in 1666. Little aid had 
been given, however, and the Dutch were coming to fear the 
intentions of their ally. In fact, Louis XIV desired nothing 
so much as to see the two maritime powers destroy one 
another. In July, 1667, the peace of Breda was signed. Treaty of 
Under the treaty England was secured in her possession of Breda > l66 7- 
the Dutch colonies in America. 

Fall of Clarendon. — The conclusion of the Dutch war Bright, 11, 
was followed by the overthrow of Clarendon. For some 73°,73 6 -739- 
time dissatisfaction with the government had been growing. 
The Dissenters smarted under their disabilities. The fears 
of Churchmen were aroused by efforts of the king to obtain 
toleration for the Catholics. The sale of Dunkirk to France 
in 1662, although probably no real disadvantage to England, 
touched the national pride. There was general indignation 
over the mismanagement of the war. Just at this time too 
the country was passing through a period of economic de- 
pression. Trade was at a standstill, a sudden fall in the 
price of wheat forced down rents one-fourth, and London, 
which in 1665 had lost one-fifth of its population by the 
plague, was in the following year devastated by a terrible 
fire which broke out on the 3d of September and raged pp . 270-274. 
for three days. 

The king did not escape popular disapproval, but the 
attacks of Parliament were directed against Clarendon. 
Charles made little effort to save his minister, whose serious 
life he felt a constraint and whom he knew to be opposed 
to his plans for Catholic toleration. In the hope of win- 
ning popularity he dismissed Clarendon from the chan- 



338 The Restoration and the Revolution 

cellorship. A formal impeachment by the House of Com. 
mons followed (1667), but the fallen minister saved himself 
by flight to France, where he lived in banishment until his 
death. Clarendon's ideal was the system of the sixteenth 
century, an Episcopal Church dependent upon the crown, 
irresponsible power wielded by an enlightened and con- 
scientious king. He repeated the mistake of Strafford in 
endeavoring to make of a Stuart a ruler after the Eliza- 
bethan type. The ministerial crisis of 1667 was accom- 
panied by a real advance in constitutional government. 
The right of the Commons to control taxation had been 
secured by the Long Parliament. The principle was now 
established that supplies should not be diverted from the 
use for which they were voted, and that the national ac- 
counts should be subject to parliamentary inspection. 
Green, Religious Policy of Charles II. — Charles II had far more 

pp. 629-632. tact and a 5iii t y tnan his father, but on the other hand less 
principle and less earnestness. Selfishness, love of pleasure, 
were the dominant notes in his character. At the outset of the 
reign he showed little ambition, but, surrounding himself with 
men of his own kind, led a life of dissipation which made the 
court a national shame. The king was avowedly a sceptic, 
but his sympathies were with the Catholics, and his only 
interference in the policy of the government had been in 
their behalf. In 1660 he had asked Parliament to grant 
general religious liberty, and in 1662 he issued a declaration 
in favor of toleration and strove to make arrangements with 
Parliament enabling him to mitigate the harshness of the 
Act of Uniformity under the power which he claimed of dis- 
pensing with the laws in particular cases. Fear of popery 
was the strongest feeling in the nation at this time, and the 
Cavalier Parliament answered the king's proposal by deny- 
ing that he possessed the dispensing power and by banish- 
ing all Roman Catholic priests. 
Bright, II, Clarendon's overthrow coincided with a change in the atti- 

74 1 - tude of the king. C-harles had learned that dependence 

upon Parliament hindered his freedom to do as he liked. 



Charles II and Fra 



339 



He objected to interference in the expenditure of the court, 
to criticism of his manner of life. Moreover, he was sincere 
in his wish to relieve the Catholics from the oppression of 
the penal laws, and he realized that the opposition of Parlia- 
ment blocked the way to this. For these reasons he hence- 
forth definitely strove to free himself from parliamentary 
restraint. 

Charles II and France. 
— After the fall of Clar- 
endon, Charles became 
his own chief minister, 
but certain men, Lauder- 
dale, Ashley, Clifford, 
Buckingham, and Arling- 
ton were from time to 
time taken into his con- 
fidence, and they came to 
be known as the Cabal. 1 

In spite of Parlia- 
ment's fear of a military 
rule, the king had al- 
ready succeeded in pro- 
viding himself with a 
small army. He had 
used the excuse of a 
fanatical outbreak in London (1661) to retain two regiments 
under arms, and he soon increased the force to five thousand 
men. In Scotland, now no longer united with England, 
Lauderdale had been active in crushing Presbyterianism, 
and had built up a standing army. 

Money, however, was necessary for the success of his 
plans, and for this Charles looked to France. Louis XIV 
met him more than half-way. Already the young French 
king was meditating those plans of aggression which made 

* At this time Cabal meant simply a body of secret advisers. The popu- 
lar detestation which these men inspired, coupled with the accidental fact 
that their names spelt Cabal, gave the word its later odious meaning. 




Louis XIV 



Bright, II, 
739. 740- 



Green, 
pp. 633-637 



34Q 



The Restoration and the Revolution 



Triple 

Alliance, 

1668. 



Treaty of 

Dover, 

1670. 

Bright, II, 

74 2 -744- 

Green, 

pp. 637-639. 



Declaration 
of Indul- 
gence, 1672. 



France during the latter part of the seventeenth century 
a menace to the freedom of Europe. In 1667, while osten- 
sibly in alliance with the Dutch, he made a secret treaty 
with Charles, in which he promised to give no help to Hol- 
land, on condition of being allowed a free hand in the Spanish 
Netherlands. 

In the following year, however, Charles formed, with 
Holland and Sweden, the Triple Alliance, to put an end 
to the war between France and Spain. A strong feeling 
against the French was springing up in England, and the 
king's action was very popular. In reality, Charles was 
inspired chiefly by a desire to make Louis realize his power. 
The result of his course was the treaty of Dover in 1670. 
By its terms the English king was to aid Louis in making 
war upon the Dutch and in dismembering the Spanish 
empire on the death of the reigning king. He was also to 
acknowledge himself a Catholic. In return, Louis was to 
pay Charles a large pension while the war with the Dutch 
lasted, and to lend him the aid of French troops to suppress 
any opposition in England to his plan to relieve the Cath- 
olics. In addition, England was to receive Dutch and 
Spanish territories in case Louis succeeded in his plans. 

The treaty of Dover was kept a profound secret from 
every one except Clifford and Arlington. Its effects, how- 
ever, were at once apparent. In 1671 Charles, having 
obtained from the Commons a grant of ^800,000, on the 
plea that money was needed to enable England to hold her 
own against France as well as Holland, prorogued Parlia- 
ment. As yet Charles dared not announce himself a Catho- 
lic, but early in 1672, under the power which he claimed, 
he issued a Declaration of Indulgence, suspending the exe- 
cution of all penal laws in matters ecclesiastical. By this 
act complete religious liberty was established. Although 
done primarily in the interest of the Catholics, Dissenters 
were included in its benefits, in the hope of winning them 
over to support the government. The effect, however, was 
just the reverse. With unusual clearsightedness, the Dis- 



War with Holland 341 

senters recognized the dangerous possibilities in allowing 
the crown such arbitrary power, and they joined with church- 
men in protesting against the measure. 

War with Holland. — The Declaration of Indulgence was Bright, 11, 
followed by a declaration of war against Holland. In the 7 43~745- 
contest that now broke out the Dutch held their own on Green, 
the sea, but on the land they were no match for the forces pp - 6 39-64*. 
which Louis sent against them. Holland was invaded. In 
the civil disorder that followed, the existing government 
was overthrown, and William of Orange, Charles's own 
nephew, was made Stadtholder at the age of twenty-two. 
Under his leadership the Dutch rallied to meet the in- 
vader in the heroic spirit which they had shown in their 
contest with Spain a century before. They refused to 
accept the terms offered them. In their desperation they 
cut the dikes and laid the country under water. Louis was 
compelled to withdraw his army, and the campaign ended 
in failure. 

Lack of money now forced Charles to summon Parlia- 
ment. Fears of a Catholic reaction, doubts as to the real 
policy of the government, were agitating the country. The 
session was marked by the appearance of an organized The Country 
opposition, the Country party, as it came to be called. Al- P art y- 
though sympathizing with the Dissenters, the opposition 
held that the first need was to put a check upon the arbi- 
trary tendency of the government, and opened an attack smrce-Bovk, 
upon the Declaration of Indulgence. A resolution was pp. 276, 277. 
passed declaring " that penal statutes in matters ecclesias- 
tical cannot be suspended but by consent of Parliament." 
All supplies were refused till the Declaration was recalled, 
and Charles was forced to give way. Parliament followed 
up this victory by passing a Test Act (1673) requiring all Test Act, 
holding civil or military office to receive the sacrament x ^ 3 " 
according to the forms of the Anglican Church, and to 
subscribe to a declaration rejecting the doctrine of tran- 
substantiation. The effect of the Test Act was to exclude 
all honest Roman Catholics from office. The resignation 



342 



The Restoration and the Revolution 



Green, 

pp. 642-646. 



Green, 

pp. 646-649. 

Bright, II, 
745-750. 752- 



of hundreds followed. The Duke of York gave up 
the command of the fleet, and Clifford retired from the 
Treasury. 

The break-up of the Cabal followed. Clifford withdrew 
into private life. Ashley, now Earl of Shaftesbury, joined 
the opposition, to be followed later by Buckingham ; Ar- 
lington attached himself to the court ; Lauderdale alone con- 
tinued to hold office. 

Administration of the Earl of Danby. — The course of 
affairs during the next few years was confused and un- 
certain. Charles, in disgust at his failure to manage Par- 
liament, gave the control into the hands of the Earl of 
Danby, who was thought to represent the dominant senti- 
ment of the Commons. The domestic aims of Danby were 
those of Clarendon. He wished to strengthen the mon- 
archy and maintain the supremacy of the Church of Eng- 
land over the Catholics and Dissenters. In foreign politics, 
'however, he leaned to an alliance with the Dutch. Both in 
his domestic and in his foreign policy Danby had the 
support of a majority in Parliament and in the nation, 
but he and the king were in accord only on the question 
of the royal prerogative. Another element in the situation 
was the Country party, which under Shaftesbury con- 
tended vigorously for toleration for all Dissenters and for 
war with France. Danby wished to break off the alliance 
with France, but Charles was bribed to maintain it. The 
Country party wanted war, but did not dare trust the king 
with an army. Louis kept Charles in his pay, but he 
doubted, and with reason, the good faith of his pensioner, 
and tried to hold him in check by intriguing with the 
leaders of the opposition. 

In 1674 a separate peace was made with Holland. The 
Country party, not content with breaking off the alliance 
with France, desired that England should join the league 
against Louis. The French king accordingly bribed Charles 
to prorogue Parliament for fifteen months. When Parlia- 
ment reassembled in 1677 it renewed the demand for war. 



The Popish Plot 343 

It refused, however, to appropriate money for the purpose, 
and insisted that Charles should disband the army which 
he had collected. At this point Louis again bought the pro- 
rogation of Parliament. Before the subsidy had been paid, 
however, Danby for the moment gained the upper hand and 
succeeded in arranging a marriage between William, Prince Marriage 
of Orange, and Mary, the eldest daughter of the Duke of ^"and* 
York. Louis indignantly refused to pay the promised grant, William of 
and Charles at once retaliated by summoning Parliament. Orange, 
Louis now adopted new tactics. Convinced of the folly of 
relying upon Charles, he entered into an intrigue with some 
of the leaders of the Country party 4 , with the hope of neutral- 
izing action through party dissensions. His policy was so 
successful that Charles, in disgust, turned again to Louis, 
and in 1678, signed a private treaty with the French king, 
agreeing to abandon Holland in return for a bribe of six 
million livres. The general peace which followed rendered 
Louis independent of England, and he took his revenge for 
Charles's double dealing, by making public the whole miser- 
able business. Wounded national pride called for vengeance. 
The king could not be held responsible, and the wrath of 
Parliament fell upon Danby, his unwilling agent. To save 
his minister, Charles dissolved Parliament, which had now 
sat for seventeen years. The new Parliament was, however, 
even more determined in its assaults upon Danby. Im- Impeach- 

peached by the House of Commons, the minister pleaded ™ en * of „ „ 
t 1 • . 1 , , , • , 1 1 , Danby, 1678 

the kings command and the kings pardon; the plea was 

set aside, and the principle was asserted that a minister 

might not shield himself from responsibility behind the 

order of the sovereign. If the king could do no wrong, then 

some one must be made responsible. 

The Popish Plot. — The attack upon Danby would per- Green, 

haps have been less vehement had not the disclosure of the PP- 6 49" 6 52. 

king's intrigues come just at a time when the country was 

in a panic over the discovery of the so-called Popish Plot. Bright, II, 

It was asserted that the Catholics had formed a conspiracy to 750-752. 

murder the king and to place the Duke of York on the 



344 



The Restoration and the Revolution 



Source-Book, 
p. 283. 



throne, that a French army was to invade the country, and 
that Protestantism was to be absolutely suppressed. The 
story rested on the almost unsupported statements of Titus 
Oates, a man of degraded character, once an Anglican 
clergyman, later a Jesuit priest ; but the Gunpowder Plot was 
fresh in popular remembrance, and the country was beside 
itself with fright. Men went armed, five peers, declared to 
be privy to the plot, were thrown into the Tower, and a 
number of Catholics were put to death. The Commons re- 
solved " that this house is of opinion that there hath been 




South View of Hampton Court 



Disabling 
Act, 1678. 



. jieen, 

pp 654-660. 

Bright, II. 



752-754. 
756-758. 



and still is a damnable and hellish plot, carried on by Papish 
recusants, for subverting the government and rooting out the 
Protestant religion." Urged on by Shaftesbury, who un- 
scrupulously encouraged belief in a plot, Parliament passed 
a Disabling Act (1678) excluding Catholic peers from the 
House of Lords. 

Contest over the Exclusion Bill. — The fears and excite- 
ment in Parliament increased rapidly and resulted in the 
proposal of the Exclusion Bill, excluding the Duke of York 
as a Catholic from the succession. To save his brother, 
Charles dissolved Parliament, although it had sat less than 
three months. Before its dissolution, however, Parliament 



Contest over the Exclusion Bill 



345 



succeeded in passing the great Habeas Corpus Act, by 
which the right of trial or of liberation was finally made 
secure. Henceforth no man was to be detained in prison 
untried. 

The elections of the summer of 1679 resulted in a Par- 
liament even more bitterly hostile to the court than the 
preceding, and Charles prorogued the new assembly seven 
times before he dared face it. In the meantime Shaftesbury 
and the Country party spared no effort to keep popular 
excitement alive. Their avowed purpose was to press 



& Si 











Riv 



Thames in the Ri 



ari.es II 



forward the Exclusion Bill, and to establish the succession 

of the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of the king. Monmouth. 

Monmouth's strength lay in his popular manners and a 

reputation for loyalty to Protestantism won by his leniency 

in suppressing a recent outbreak of the Covenanters in 

Scotland. 

But signs of a reaction were becoming apparent. Popish 
Plot trials continued, but incredulity as to the existence of 
a conspiracy was spreading. Petitions from the Country 
party urging the king to assemble Parliament were met by 
counter-addresses from the supporters of the divine right of 
hereditary succession expressing abhorrence of these petitions. 



Source-Book, 
pp. 277-282. 



346 The Restoration and the Revolution 

Two sharply opposed parties were now apparent, known at 
Whigs and first as Petitioners and Abhorrers, later as Whigs and Tories. 1 
Tones. j n October, 1680, Parliament was at last called together. 

The Exclusion Bill was at once brought in and passed by 
the Commons, but in the House of Lords it was thrown 
out through the efforts of the Earl of Halifax. A dissolution 
followed. Conscious that the tide was turning in his favor, 
Charles called a new Parliament early in 1681. He offered 
to agree to anything short of exclusion, the duke should be 
banished, a regency should be established to carry on the gov- 
ernment in James's name, the regent should be the Prince 
of Orange. Blinded by passion, Shaftesbury with his party 
in the Commons still urged forward the Exclusion Bill. But 
they had gone too far, the country was no longer with them, 
and they were at length forced to confess themselves beaten. 
In the one great struggle with Parliament which Charles 
Dryden, risked he gained a complete victory. His triumph was due 

to the fact that in the end the people were on his side. 
The nation's dislike to a Catholic ruler was overcome by its 
fear of civil war combined with its loyalty to the principle 
of hereditary right. 
Bright, 11, Reaction. — In the reaction that followed the defeat of the 

75 8 . 759- Country party, Charles was strong enough to take vengeance 

upon his opponents. A few of the followers of Shaftesbury 
were put to death on testimony no better than that accepted 
in the Popish Plot trials. Shaftesbury himself was charged 
with high treason, but the grand jury of Middlesex, before 
which the charge was brought, was strongly Whig, and the 
indictment was disregarded. To bring London and the 
other large towns, generally Whig, to terms, their charters 
were confiscated on charge of some irregularities and 
remodelled in the Tory interest. 

The Rye House Plot. — Restless under defeat, the Whigs 
took to plotting. In 1683 some of the more unscrupulous 

1 Whig: a name applied to the Covenanters of the west of Scotland, 
from the cry of "whiggam," used with horses by the peasants of that region. 
Tory : a name given to brigands in Ireland. 



Absalom and 
Achitophel. 



James II 347 

members of the party formed a plan to murder the king and Green, 
his brother at a place called the Rye House. The con- p - 66x - 
spiracy was discovered in time, and with it was brought to 
light the plan of some of the Whigs to force the king to 
summon Parliament. The leaders were seized, and two of 
them, Lord Russell and Algernon Sydney, were tried on the 
charge of high treason, and in disregard of the law requir- 
ing two witnesses, were condemned to death. 

Death of Charles II. — The revival of loyal feeling that Bright, 1 1, 
followed the defeat of the Exclusion Bill had not yet spent 76 °* 
itself when the king died, declaring, as he had not before pp e 66i-66 + 
dared to do, his adhesion to the Roman Catholic Church. 
During the last four years of his reign, by the advice of the 
high Tories, he refrained from calling Parliament and 
relied upon aid from France. The guiding principle of 
Charles's policy is indicated by the remark, commonly attrib- 
uted to him, that whatever else might happen he would not 
go again upon his travels. He had the ability to see the 
limit beyond which resistance was unsafe, and there was 
never fear that he would press a matter to the point of en- 
dangering his crown. On the whole his reign was marked 
by real constitutional progress. Charles made his minis- 
ters responsible to himself, but he was not able to prevent 
their being called to account by Parliament. Moreover, the 
establishment of political parties was a long stride toward 
parliamentary rule. 

James II (1685-1689). — The Stuart restoration coin- Bright, II, 
cided with the development in the English people of in- ? 6 3- 
tense feeling on certain subjects. An unreasoning devo- 
tion to the king and the Church was matched by an equally 
unreasoning fear and detestation of Puritans and Roman 
Catholics. Should these sentiments ever come into conflict, 
it was a question which would gain the mastery. In the 
reign of James II the question was answered. As a man 
James was more respectable than his brother, as a king he was 
more dangerous. In many ways he resembled his father. 
He had the same lack of tact and pliability, coupled with even 



348 The Restoration and the Revolution 

less ability. James's aims were like those of Charles II, to 
make himself independent of Parliament and to restore the 
Roman Catholic Church, but his policy was different. De- 
pendence on France was odious to him. If possible he 
would achieve his ends in some less humiliating way. If 
he could obtain from Parliament what he wanted, freedom 
to carry out his domestic policy and plenty of money, he 
would throw England into the scale against France. Only 
as a last resort would he become a pensioner of Louis. 

The Tory Parliament. — James met his first Parliament on 
the 19th of May, 1685. The Tories were in an immense 
majority. This was due in part to the remodelled munici- 
palities (p. 346), but still more to the strength of the royal 
feeling throughout the country. A revenue even larger 
than that enjoyed by the late king was granted James for 
life. 

Events that followed quickly upon the opening of the ses- 
sion tended to strengthen the king with Parliament and with 
the nation. During the preceding reign a group of Scotch 
and English exiles had gathered in Holland. They now 
planned a simultaneous invasion of Scotland and England 
under the leadership of the Earl of Argyle and the Duke of 
Monmouth. It was thought that the Presbyterian interest 
and Argyle's own clansmen would join him in attacking 

Monmouth s j ames ' s government. Monmouth's reliance was in the Dis- 

rebellion, J ° 

1685. senters and the extreme Protestant party. Both expedi- 

tions ended in failure. Argyle had already met his over- 
throw in the Highlands when Monmouth landed in the west 
of England. The duke was well received by the common 
people, but he found little support among substantial men, 
and on Sedgemoor his forces were completely defeated 
by the royal army. Monmouth was taken prisoner and 
put to death. Jeffreys, one of the judges noted for his 
ferocity, was sent to the western counties to take revenge 
upon the duke's unhappy followers. His cruel circuit has 
received the name of the Bloody Assizes, but the king 
rewarded his work with the chancellorship. 



Despotism of James 349 

Despotism of James. — The ease with which Argyle and Bright, II, 
Monmouth were crushed gave James confidence. He felt 768-772, 
that he might proceed openly with his plans. Accordingly 
he increased his army and appointed Roman Catholics to 
commands, although they could not take the oath. When 
Parliament reassembled in November he urged forward the 
repeal of the Test Act, but a strong opposition became 
manifest in both Houses, and James prorogued Parliament. 

Undeterred by his failure to obtain the support of the Tory Green, 
and High Church party, James went boldly on with his plans pp - 666 ~ 6 7 1 - 
for a Roman Catholic restoration. He made free use of the 
much-disputed right of dispensing with the execution of the 
laws in individual cases. In order to get a legal decision 
in his favor, he caused a suit to be brought against Sir 
Edmund Hales, a Catholic officer, who had refused to take 
the test. Hales produced a royal dispensation, and the 
court, which had been carefully packed, decided in sup- 
port of the king's claim. 

Strengthened by this decision, James proceeded to ap- 
point Catholics to high church and university offices. To 
enforce his will upon the clergy, he established the Ecclesi- 
astical Commission Court, with Jeffreys at its head. A small 
riot in London was made the excuse for establishing a per- 
manent encampment of troops on Hounslow Heath. Mean- 
time a struggle that had been going on among the king's 
supporters ended in the triumph of the Earl of Sunderland 
and the extreme Catholics. The Earl of Rochester, who 
represented the party of the Protestants and moderate 
Catholics, was dismissed from office because he would not 
change his belief. At the same time, Tyrconnel, leader of 
the Irish Catholics, was made lord lieutenant of Ireland, 
in place of Clarendon, Rochester's brother. 

Urged on by his new advisers, James determined on more General 
sweeping measures. On the 4th of April, 1687, he issued Declaration 
a general Declaration of Indulgence suspending all penal indulgence 
laws and religious tests. Self-interest, he thought, would 1687. 
insure the support of the Dissenters to the measure, but in 



35o 



The Restoration and the Revolutioti 



Bright, II, 
77\~777- 

Attack on 
the Univer- 
sities. 



this he was mistaken. The larger part of the dissenting 
body expressed strong disapproval of the action. The 
attack upon the universities became more violent. At 
Cambridge the vice-chancellor was dismissed from office for 
refusing to give the degree of Master of Arts to a Bene- 
dictine monk who had refused to take the test. At Oxford 
the Fellows of Magdalen were directed to elect to the 
vacant headship of the college a Catholic nominee of the 




St. John's College, Cambridge 

From an old print 



crown. On their refusal to do this, they were turned out 
of doors and their places filled with Roman Catholics. 

Blind to the growing discontent, James made one more 
attempt to procure from Parliament the repeal of the Test 
Act. The existing House was dissolved, and no pains were 
spared to pack the new one. The corporations were again 
remodelled so as to secure the return of Catholics and Dis- 
senters. The lords-lieutenant of the counties were asked 
to aid the king in securing the election of candidates who 



Negotiations with William of Orange 3 5 1 

would vote for repeal. It soon became plain that neither 
towns nor counties could be trusted to do the king's 
bidding, and the design of convening Parliament was 
abandoned. 

The Trial of the Seven Bishops. — James seemed deter- Bright, 1 1, 
mined to alienate all his supporters. In April, 1688, he 777-779- 
issued a second Declaration of Indulgence, which he or- prTfo'i 672 
dered to be read in all the churches. The clergy had 
preached the doctrine of non-resistance with great vigor, 
but now they hesitated to obey. When the day appointed 
for the reading arrived, the churches were thronged. Most 
of the country clergy refused to obey the king's order ; only 
four of the London clergy attempted to read the Declara- 
tion, and at the first words their congregations left the 
church. 

A few days before the appointed Sunday seven bishops, Source-Book, 
including the primate, presented a respectful petition to the P p - 28 4-288. 
king, praying that they might be freed from the necessity 
of breaking the law by reading an illegal declaration. James 
called the petition " a standard of rebellion," and caused the 
bishops to be brought before the King's Bench on the charge 
of publishing a seditious libel. The excitement was tremen- 
dous. The streets outside Westminster Hall, where the trial 
was held, were filled with anxious crowds. James felt sure 
of both judges and jury, but to his chagrin a verdict of 
not guilty was brought in. The result was received with 
great rejoicing : even the soldiers on Hounslow Heath 
shouted with the rest. 

Negotiations with "William of Orange. — In spite of the 
victory gained in the acquittal of the bishops, matters had 
not really taken a turn for the better. The patience which 
the nation had shown was chiefly due to its hope of seeing 
an end of its troubles, for James's only children were daugh- 
ters and loyal to the Protestant faith. But while the fate 
of the bishops was still undecided, the queen gave birth to Birth of a 
a son, and at once the aspect of affairs changed. So oppor- P nnce > 
tune for James's plans was the birth of the young prince, that 



352 



The Restoration and the Revolution 



the child was popularly, although falsely, held to be suppo- 
sititious. But, whatever the feeling among the people, he 
was presented to the country as the heir to the throne, and 
he was sure to be brought up a Catholic. The day of the 
acquittal of the bishops, a letter, signed by seven prominent 
Whigs and Tories, was sent to William of Orange, husband 




The Cittie of Limerick 

O'Grady, Pacata Hibernia, or A History of the Wars in Ireland 



Green, 
pp. 672-680. 
Bright, II, 
779-782. 



of Princess Mary, asking him to come to the rescue of 
English liberty. 

William of Orange was the leading Protestant statesman 
of Europe. He had thrown himself heart and soul into 
the struggle against France, and was strongly desirous of 
securing the cooperation of England. The opportunity was 
tempting, but the difficulties in the way were great ; English 
national feeling, Dutch jealousy, the opposition of his Cath- 
olic allies on the Continent, were all to be met. The un- 
bridled ambition of Louis and the boundless stupidity of 




4 Longitude East 5 from Greenwich 6 



The Revolution of 1688 353 

James combined to smooth his way. By attacking the trade 
of Holland Louis insured to William the support of the 
Dutch. By quarrelling with the Pope he connected for the 
moment the interests of the Roman Catholic Church with 
William's success. In England James crowned a long series 
of blunders and alienated the army by bringing over Irish 
Catholic troops. At last the king had succeeded in driving 
all elements of the nation into opposition. Tories and 
Whigs, the Church, the Dissenters, the universities, country 
and town, all alike now understood that political freedom, 
the Protestant faith, the national honor, were in danger so 
long as James was on the throne. 

The Revolution of 1688. — William no longer hesitated. Bright, II, 
Before setting sail he issued a manifesto which summed up 7 8 3 _ 7 8 9- 
James's unconstitutional acts and stated that, as the husband pp 680-685 
of Princess Mary, he was coming to England with an armed 
force to secure a free and legal Parliament, by whose 
decision he would abide. 

James had obstinately closed his eyes to what was passing. 
Forced at length to see his danger, he made concessions right 
and left. But it was too late. On the 5th of November 
William landed at Torbay and proceeded slowly toward 
London. He was joined by one after another of the leading Source-Book 
statesmen and generals. Even the Princess Anne threw in PP- 288-292. 
her lot with the rebels. James found himself almost alone, 
and with the fate of his father before his eyes he fled in dis- 
guise to France, where he was most respectfully received 
by Louis. 

It was necessary to provide without delay for the settle- 
ment of the government, and election writs were issued in 
William's name. When the convention came together, the 
Commons passed a resolution declaring that " King James 
II, having endeavoured to subvert the Constitution of 
the kingdom by breaking the original contract between 
King and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other 
wicked people, having violated the fundamental laws, and 
having withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, had abdicated 
2 A 



354 



The Restoration and the Revolution 



Declaration 
of Right, 
see p. 362. 



Bright, II, 
790-804. 

Macaulay, 
Hist, of 
England, 
ch. III. 



Traill, IV, 
472-477. 



the Government, and that the throne had thereby become 
vacant." After some debate the Lords accepted the terms 
of the Commons' resolution. A Declaration of Right was 
drawn up, reciting the misgovernment of James, and assert- 
ing the rights and liberties of the English people. The two 
Houses then joined in offering the crown to William and 
Mary as joint sovereigns, the actual administration of the 
government, however, to rest with William. 

England at the Close of the Seventeenth Century. — Eng- 
land's real religious reformation and her greatest political 
revolution came within a space of less than one hundred 
years. For almost a century the national energies had been 
concentrated in the two channels of politics and religion. 
Literature was dominated by these interests. In Bacon, 
Hobbes, Filmer, Locke, in Milton and Bunyan, the national 
earnestness found full expression. Milton, the secretary of 
Cromwell, the great Puritan poet serving the great Puritan 
statesman, typifies the close connection between the world 
of action and the world of letters. 

Social and industrial interests were forced into the back- 
ground by the strenuous political and religious activity. 
During the civil wars, the half-feudal conditions that con- 
trolled class relations under the early Stuarts disappeared, 
and by the end of the century, society had assumed a 
modern character. The mediaeval baron had given place 
to the modern nobleman. The country gentry and the 
rural clergy, united by many interests, formed the influen- 
tial class. The small freeholders were slowly losing ground, 
but were still an important element in the life of the 
country. Below them, unrepresented and ignored, were 
the farmers, laborers, and artisans. A counterpoise to the 
power of the landed interest was the commercial class rap- 
idly growing in wealth and political importance. One of 
the most important social and political features of the time 
was the presence of the large body of Dissenters, active and 
intelligent, and forced apart from the rest of the nation by 
the intolerant attitude of the Church. London had become 



Commercial Rivalry with Holland 355 

to a degree before unknown the centre of political and 
intellectual interests. Men of prominence in all pursuits 
nocked thither, congregating at the coffee-houses, 1 which 
answered the purpose of the clubs of to-day. 

The industrial history of the seventeenth century offers 
little that is noteworthy. The disorders of the Civil War 
caused a rise in prices which was made good only in part by 
the rise in wages. On the whole, however, there was but • 
little economic disturbance. Agriculture showed some im- 
provement under the early Stuarts, due to the impetus Traill, iv 
given by the Tudors. The draining of the fens was the Il8_I21 - 
great achievement of the time. 2 During the first part of the 
century there was some progress in manufacturing. The 
woollen industry prospered. The iron mines of Sussex were 
worked to a considerable extent, but smelting was hampered 
by the increasing scarcity of wood, and as yet the use of pit 
coal as fuel was not generally understood. There was but 
little development in domestic trade, owing mainly to the 
few and bad roads. Foreign trade was chiefly in the hands 
of the Londoners. In accordance with the prevailing eco- 
nomic theories there was much regulation of trade, and 
home industries and national commerce were fostered by 
efforts to crush out foreign or colonial rivalry. 

Commercial Rivalry with Holland. — Brief though it was, 
the rule of Cromwell marks a turning-point in English 
policy. Now, for the first time, the government concerned 
itself with building up a commercial and colonial empire. 
Henceforth England's strength was on the sea, and her wars 
were usually naval. The rivals of England in the middle of the 
seventeenth century were Spain and Holland. Spain was still 
the first colonial power of the world, but decay had set in and 
Spanish greatness was waning. Holland, on the contrary, 
was at the height of her power, doing the carrying trade of 
the world, and building up her empire at the expense of 

1 Coffee was introduced into England in the reign of Charles II. 

2 The great fens extending into six of the eastern counties were drained 
and reclaimed in the reign of Charles I. 



356 



The Restoration and the Revolution 



Jamaica, 
1655- 



Peace of 
Breda, 1667. 



Spain and Portugal. England, under Cromwell, made suc- 
cessful war upon both the Spanish and the Dutch. The 
Spanish settlements were attacked, and, although an attempt 
to seize San Domingo failed, Jamaica passed into the posses- 
sion of the English. The basis of Holland's power, her 
commercial supremacy, received a twofold blow in the 
achievements of the English navy and in the Navigation 
Acts of the Long Parliament. 

The example of the Commonwealth was followed under 
Charles II. Trade rivalry with Holland continued, and the 
Navigation Laws were renewed (1660). In 1665 war broke 
out. On the sea the two powers were still well matched, 
and England met with alternate success and defeat. By the 
peace of Breda which closed the war (1667), England gave 
up her claim to Pularoon, thus losing her hold upon the 
Spice Islands of the East j but in return she was secured 
in her possession of St. Helena, off the coast of Africa, valu- 
able as a calling station, and what was of greater importance, 
she fell heir to the Dutch colonies in America. After the 
founding of settlements in the Carolinas, 1663, and Pennsyl- 
vania, 1682, the English possessions stretched in an un- 
broken line for nearly a thousand miles along the Atlantic 
coast of North America. No other power could boast so 
extensive a group of colonies peopled by men of the home 
race. 

Although, in accordance with the terms of the treaty of 
Dover (1670), the war with Holland was renewed, the feel- 
ing was becoming general that it was a mistake to make war 
on the Dutch. Holland was a waning, England a growing 
power. England ceased to dread the rivalry of the Dutch, 
Holland needed the aid of the English. The duel between 
the two northern sea-powers may be said to end with the 
peace of 1674. Henceforth the two nations drew together, 
united by a common fear of the French. 

The Duel between England and France. — The close of the 
Thirty Years' War left France dominant on the Continent. 
Under Louis XIV France became the most powerful country 



The Duel between England and France 357 

in Europe. Her population was almost three times that 
of England. Her army rose steadily from one hundred 
thousand in 1650 to half a million at the beginning of the 
next century, and her navy could hold its own against the 
English or the Dutch. By the centralization of the govern- 
ment under Richelieu, all these resources were placed at 
the absolute disposal of the king. 

Great as were the resources of Louis XIV, they were Aims of 
outstripped by his ambition. From the beginning of his Louls XIV - 
rule in 1660 till his final defeat in 1713, he was ceaselessly 
planning to extend his power. Schemes of continental 
aggrandizement were accompanied by attempts to develop 
the French colonial empire. The direction which Louis 
gave to the policy of France outlived him, and for half a 
century after the death of the Great Monarch the French 
were still struggling to attain the double goal of continental 
supremacy and colonial expansion. 



358 Tlie Restoration and the Revolution 

Important Events 
Charles II, 1 660-1 685. 

The Cavalier Parliament, 1661-1679. 

Act of Uniformity, 1662. 

Conquest of New Netherlands, 1664. 

War with Holland, 1665-1667. 

Fall of Clarendon, 1667. 

Treaty of Dover, 1670. 

Declaration of Indulgence, 1672. 

Test Act, 1673. 

The Popish Plot, 1678. 

Habeas Corpus Act, 1679. 

Contest over the Exclusion Bill. 1679-1681. 

Founding of Pennsylvania, 1682. 

James II, 1685-1689. 

Sedgemoor, 1685. 

The judges declare for the king's dispensing power, i( 

Second Declaration of Indulgence, 1688. 

Birth of the son of James II, 1688. 

Acquittal of the seven bishops, 1688. 

Landing of William of Orange, 1688. 

The crown accepted by William and Mary, 1689. 



Chief Contemporaries 350 



13 * 
2 a" 






_= 



>> .s 



^ « Q |S° g d U ffl^ 



.3 -d 



h-, u y 



CHAPTER XII 

PARTIES AND PARTY GOVERNMENT 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 
Adams and Stephens, Hill, Henderson, Figgis, as before. 

Special Authorities 

Hallam, Constitutional History of England. 

May, Constitutional History of England. 

Macaulay, History of England. 

Lecky, Histsry of England in the Eighteenth Century. 

Leadam, Political History of England, Vol. IX. 

Traill, William III. 

Morley, Walpole. 

Imaginative Literature 

Thackeray, Esmond. 
Scott, Waverley. 

Bright, III, Results of the Revolution of 1688. — The Revolution of 

806,807. 1688 marks the overthrow of the Stuart theory of the divine 

right of kings, and the triumph of the Whig principle that 
the king rules by the will of the people. In the place of an 
absolute sovereign was established a supreme Parliament, 
the representative of the nation ; and government by pre- 
rogative gave way to the rule of law. The work was well 
done ; arbitrary taxation and arbitrary legislation could 
never again be attempted. Little, in fact, was left for the 
next century to accomplish except to adjust the machinery 
of government to the new controlling principles. Thor- 
ough as was the Revolution, it was, nevertheless, essentially 
360 



Parties and the Revolution 361 

conservative and practical. The extravagances of the Re- 
bellion had made men cautious. All unnecessary change 
was deprecated. Nothing was attacked that could safely 
be retained, and there was no theorizing. In sharp con- 
trast with the earlier movement was the peaceful character 
of this revolution. Without bloodshed, with but little excite- 
ment, a king was deposed, and another ruler set in his place, 
and the whole conception of the government changed. 

Constitutional Work of the Eighteenth Century. — The 
Revolution was accomplished in the space of a few weeks. 
To carry into effect what had been gained was the work of 
the eighteenth century. The natural consequence of the 
supremacy of Parliament was parliamentary control of the 
executive, the transformation of the ministers of the king 
into national ministers, responsible to the people, not to the 
sovereign, and all-powerful if secure of popular support. 
This was not at first realized. Still less was the means of 
bringing the will of the people to bear upon the government 
understood. More than a century of blind, stumbling ex- 
periment was necessary to work out and establish in com- 
pleteness Cabinet government ; that is, government by a Cabinet 
council of ministers holding the same political opinions, act- govern- 
ing as a unit, in harmony with the dominant party in the 
House of Commons, standing or falling, not at the pleasure 
of the king, but in accordance with the will of the nation as 
expressed through its representatives. 

Parties and the Revolution. — Although James II was 
overthrown by a combination of Whigs and Tories, the Rev- 
olution was essentially a Whig movement. The cooperation 
of the Tories was accidental and temporary. Out of loyalty 
to one principle they did violence to another. They re- 
sisted the king to save the Anglican Church, but that did 
not mean that they had abandoned the doctrine of inde- 
feasible hereditary right. For a generation to come the 
Tory party remained Jacobite, that is to say Stuart, in sym- jacobitism. 
pathy. Just so long as there was a Catholic pretender in 
the background the contradiction between the Tory prin- 



William III 363 

ciples would divide and weaken the party. The position of 
the Whigs, on the other hand, was simple. In their hands, 
resistance to James had been made to mean constitutional 
liberty and religious toleration, the cardinal points of the 
Whig doctrine. Accordingly their task was simply the 
maintenance of the Revolution settlement. 

In fighting strength the two parties were not unequal. 
On the side of the Tories were the country gentry and the 
Church, never since the Reformation so powerful as now. 
The strength of the Whigs lay in the great nobles, the Dis- 
senters, and the commercial classes. The Tories were 
more numerous, but the Whigs were strong through good 
leadership, fine organization, and the high intelligence of 
the mass of the party. 

William III (1689-1702) and the Revolution Settlement. Bright, in, 
— The establishment of the new government was attended 807,811. 
with many difficulties. The unanimity of the nation in pp . 688-691. 
support of the Revolution soon came to an end. James's 
repeated assaults upon the Church had led the clergy to 
disregard, for a moment, the doctrine of passive obedience, 
which, for a generation, they had vigorously preached ; but 
the overthrow of the house of Stuart was quickly followed 
by a reaction in its favor among churchmen. The require- 
ment that all of the clergy should take the oath of allegiance 
forced the growing disaffection to the Revolution into open 
hostility. Between three hundred and four hundred of the 
clergy, including the primate and six of the bishops, refused 
to take the oath and were deprived of their preferments. 
These Nonjurors, as they were called, were now to be 
counted as enemies to the new order. 

To overturn the despotism of James, Whigs and Tories Bright, ill, 
had joined hands, but success at once brought out the old 8o8 ^ 8l °- 
differences of opinion. Gratitude and self-interest bound 
William to the Whigs, to whose efforts he chiefly owed his 
crown, but he was unwilling to be a mere party leader. 
Moreover, although resolved to rule constitutionally, he 
had no mind to become simply a figure-head, and he naturally 



364 



Parties and Party Government 



The Bill of 
Rights, 
Old South 
Leaflets, 
No. 19. 

Toleration 
Act, 1689. 



Bright, II, 

772-774; III, 

812-817, 

826-830. 

Green, 

pp. 664, 665, 

669-671. 



inclined to the Tory party with its higher views of the royal 
prerogative. He attempted, therefore, to rule by the support 
of both parties, and included in his ministry both Whigs and 
Tories. The impracticability of this method was not at first 
realized, but the friction it caused soon became apparent. 

Parliament proceeded to pass some important measures. 
The Declaration of Rights was reissued as the Bill of Rights. 
In spite of the protest of the Church, the Dissenters were 
rewarded for their support of the Revolution with the Tol- 
eration Act, which gave liberty of worship to all except 
Unitarians and Roman Catholics. It was not a generous 
measure ; toleration, not equality, was granted, and much of 
the penal legislation of Charles II remained in force. In 
this and the following Parliament the public revenue was 
settled. Certain taxes were granted to the king for life for 
the support of the crown, 1 others for the maintenance of 
the government were granted for a limited time only. The 
separation of the grants for the royal expenditure from the 
appropriations for carrying on the government was of great 
constitutional importance. 

Ireland and the Revolution. — When the Revolution broke 
out, Ireland, as was natural, espoused the cause of James. 
The restoration of Charles II had brought some relief to 
the Irish Catholics. It is true that the Act of Settlement 
(1661) had confirmed most of the land grants made under 
Cromwell. As a result, the Protestants were left in posses- 
sion of almost three-fourths of the good lands in Ireland, 
while before 1641 about two-thirds of such lands were still in 
the hands of the Catholics. Nevertheless, the years that fol- 
lowed the return of the Stuarts were, on the whole, prosper- 
ous. There was religious toleration, and the measures of 
the government were mild. During his short reign, James 
had done much to restore the ascendency of the Catholics. 
Tyrconnel, a Romanist, was at the head of the government, 
the municipal charters were remodelled in the interest of 
the same party, and an Irish Catholic army was organized. 

1 This grant formed the origin of the Civil List. 



Ireland and the Revolution 365 

When William landed in England, the Irish at once rose 
in support of James. Many of the English fled from the 
country, those remaining threw themselves into the few 
strong places like Londonderry and Enniskillen. Tyrronnel 
and his army swept over the land, destroying the property 
of the Protestants. Except for Londonderry and Ennis- 
killen, now closely invested, all Ireland was in revolt against 
the English government. James took courage. Accom- 
panied by a few French officers he crossed over from 
France, and a Parliament was summoned in Dublin, which, Parliament 
as was to be expected, contained few but Catholics. It pro- at Dublin - 
ceeded at once to repeal the Act of Settlement and to pass 
an Act ^f Attainder including between two thousand and 
three thousand of the leading Englishmen in the country. 
On the other hand, it established perfect religious liberty. 

At first William III showed little energy in attempt- 
ing to assert his authority in Ireland. Londonderry and 
Enniskillen held out, but in Londonderry the popula- 
tion was reduced to the last straits. Finally in July, 1689, an 
English fleet succeeded in forcing its way up the river Foyle Relief of 
and Londonderry was saved, after a siege of one hundred London- 
and five days. Early in 1690 the king, glad to turn his 
back on the faction struggles of the Whigs and Tories, 
crossed to Ireland. In July he fought the battle of the 
Boyne. The Irish suffered overwhelming defeat, and James, 
giving up his cause for lost, fled to France. For a year 
longer the Irish kept up the struggle, but in October, 1691, 
Limerick was forced to surrender, and this brought the 
war to an end. By the treaty of Limerick, the Catholics Treaty of 
were promised such liberties as they had enjoyed under Limenck - 
Charles II, and amnesty was guaranteed for all who would 
take the oath of allegiance. To the shame of England the 
promise with regard to the Catholics was not kept. 

The Revolution in Scotland. — In Scotland, as in Ireland, Bright, in, 
William was forced to fight for his crown, but the opposition 817-821, 
which he met in the north was not national, as in Ireland. 34_ 3 ' 
The return of the Stuarts had been followed by the over- 



366 



Parties and Party Government 



Green, 

pp. 663, 664. 



Source- Book, 
292-297. 



Green, 

pp. 662, 671- 

673, 676. 

Bright, III, 

811,831,836- 

838, 846-848, 

856-859. 



throw of the Presbyterian Church and the establishment of 
Episcopacy. All resistance was relentlessly crushed out. 
As a result the Revolution found strong support among the 
Scotch. A Claim of Right, similar to the English Decla- 
ration of Right, was adopted by the Scottish Parliament. 
The crown was offered to William and accepted by him. 
Presbyterianism was again established. 

The Highlands had taken little part in the overthrow of 
the Stuarts. The clansmen were lawless and half savage, 
and their politics were chiefly local. Many of the clans 
were at this time bitterly hostile to the great Campbell 
family, and the fact that Argyle, the head of the Campbells, 
was a Whig, was sufficient reason for championing the 
Stuarts. Dundee, one of James's supporters, made use of 
this feeling to stir up the Highlanders to resist the new 
government. An English army was sent against them, and 
the two forces met in the Pass of Killiecrankie. Dundee 
was killed, but his followers succeeded in defeating the Eng- 
lish, who were hampered in attempting to use the bayonet 1 at 
close quarters. Deprived of their leader, the Highlanders 
returned to their homes, and in 1691 the distribution of a 
large sum of money among the chiefs of the clans brought 
them one by one to submit to the new government. 

France and the Coalition. — William had not forgotten 
continental affairs. He had accepted the English crown 
largely that he might throw England into the scales against 
France. The French attack upon Ireland gave just grounds 
for action, and in 1689 Parliament declared war. The same 
step had already been taken by the Empire, Austria, Spain, 
Holland, and Brandenburg. At last all Europe had com- 
bined against Louis, whose only ally was the Turk. Never- 
theless for a time France held her own against the unwieldy 
coalition, and it was not until 1692 that her career of 
success was checked. In that year Louis XIV planned an 
invasion of England, which, if successful, would restore to 
James his crown and detach England from the coalition 

1 A new French invt ntion. 



368 



Parties and Party Government 



La Hogue, 
1692. 



Peace of 
Ryswick, 
1697. 



Bright, III, 
832, 853. 



Green, 

pp. 696-699. 



But the undertaking ended in failure. In the great battle 
of La Hogue (1692) the French fleet was completely de- 
stroyed by the English under Admiral Russell. On land 
Louis was still victorious. The rival armies fought in Spain, 
in Italy, along the Rhine, in the Netherlands;- and at every 
point the French maintained their ground. Finally in 1695 
the tide began to turn. Namur fell ; for the first time in 
fifty-two years the French met with a reverse. France was 
becoming exhausted by the burden of years of war, and 
Louis was anxious to bring the struggle to a close. Peace 
negotiations were finally opened. The French king offered 
reasonable terms, but the coalition held off. William, how- 
ever, saw the wisdom and justice of treating on the con- 
ditions proposed, and in 1697 a general peace was signed at 
Ryswick. Louis acknowledged William as king, and gave 
back all the conquests of the war. At last a check was 
imposed on the aggression of the French. 

Jacobitism. — While carrying on the war with France, 
William was hampered by many difficulties at home. En- 
thusiasm for the Revolution soon cooled. William's cold, 
reserved manners and his undisguised preference for Holland 
made him personally unpopular. The favors showered upon 
the Dutch followers of the king alienated many. The war 
entailed heavy taxation and hampered commerce, and there 
was a strong feeling that England's interests were sacrificed 
for the sake of William's continental possessions. James's 
supporters, the Jacobites, were untiring in their efforts to 
overthrow the Revolution settlement. The government was 
honeycombed with intrigue and treachery. Some even of the 
king's ministers, including Admiral Russell and Churchill, 
Earl of Marlborough, entered into negotiations with James. 
Twice an invasion by the French cooperating with the 
Jacobites was attempted, and a plot to assassinate William 
was wellnigh successful. 

The Whig Ministry. — In the government there was much 
disorder and corruption. Parliament did nothing to better 
the situation, for neither party felt responsible for the admin- 



The Tory Reaction 369 

istration. In the House of Commons there was no assured 
majority. One day so many Whigs would be off at tennis or 
a cockfight that the Tories had everything their own way, 
but the following day conditions might be reversed. Parlia- 
ment was supreme, but it was as yet unorganized. Sunder- 
land, once the chief counsellor of James II, suggested a 
remedy for these disorders. By his advice, the king gradu- Party re- 
ally excluded from his ministry all but Whigs, in order that, s P onslblllt y- 
one party alone being represented in the government, political 
responsibility might be fixed and a stable support secured. 
The Whig ministry of 1696 was the first homogeneous min- Bright, III, 
istry in English history. 1 Its leading members, popularly 8 4 2 - 
known as the Junto, were Wharton, a man of great ability The Junto, 
but of the worst character, Russell, the victor at La Hogue, 
Somers, who was prominent in the bishops' trial, and Mon- 
tague, distinguished in literature and finance. 

In spite of the factious behavior of Parliament several Bright, III, 
important measures were carried. 2 Through clipping, the 84 °' 843, 849- 
currency of the realm had fallen to but little more than half 
its proper weight, and in 1696, by the efforts of Montague, 
aided by Sir Isaac Newton, a comprehensive scheme of 
restoration was successfully carried out. A measure of great 
constitutional importance was the passage of a new Triennial Triennial 
Act, which limited the life of a Parliament to three years. Act> l694 " 
Finally, the refusal of Parliament to renew the Licensing Act 
in 1695 established the liberty of the press. 3 

The Tory Reaction. — Supported by the Whigs, William Bright, III, 

859, 860, 864. 

1 It was the first recognition of the principle that the cooperation of the 
Commons could best be secured through a ministry acting as a unit in 
representing the dominant opinions of the House. 

2 Through the influence of Montague a government loan was established. 
This is held to be the origin of the National Debt, as it was the first loan 
upon which the interest was steadily paid. In 1694 the Bank of England 
was established. The effect of these two measures was to interest the 
moneyed classes in the maintenance of the Revolution Settlement. 

3 The newspaper dates from the reign of James I. The first daily paper 
appeared in 1709. During the seventeenth century licensing acts gave the 
government complete control of printing, and it was not until the reign of 
George III that public affairs and parliamentary proceedings were freely 
discussed by the press. 

2 B 



370 



Parties and Party Government 



Bright, III, 
870. 



Act of Settle- 
ment, 
Old South 
Leaflets, 
No. 19. 
Bright, III, 
871. 



Green, 

pp. 701-704. 



carried the struggle against France through to a triumphant 
conclusion, but the signing of the peace was at once followed 
by a renewal of his difficulties with Parliament. The horror 
of a standing army was ingrained in Englishmen at this 
time, and with the aid of some malcontent Whigs the Tory 
party succeeded in passing an act reducing the army to seven 
thousand men, and requiring that these seven thousand should 
be English born. William felt keenly the danger of so great 
a reduction of the forces in the unsettled state of European 
politics, and he was touched to the quick by the attack upon 
his favorite Dutch guards. He was with difficulty prevented 
from abdicating. The next step of the opposition was to 
attack the royal ministers. The Junto was broken up, and 
in 1700 William was forced to form a Tory ministry. The 
new Parliament, elected in accordance with the Triennial 
Act, was strongly Tory. 

The government was now in the hands of the Tory party. 
There was no desire to undo the work of the Revolution, 
and in 1701 Parliament passed the Act of Settlement, giving 
the succession after the death of Anne, who was child- 
less, to the Electress of .Hanover, granddaughter of James I, 
and to her descendants. The choice of Sophia was deter- 
mined by the fact that she was the nearest Protestant heir. 
Additional articles of the Act of Settlement stipulated that 
henceforth judges should hold office, not at the king's 
pleasure, but during good behavior, and that the royal 
pardon should not bar an impeachment. 

The Spanish Succession. — The Tory party was committed 
to a peace policy, and it showed no willingness to support 
the king in renewing the struggle against France, and yet 
that now seemed necessary if William's work was not to 
be all undone. In 1700 Charles II of Spain died. Louis 
XIV had long been intriguing to secure the Spanish in- 
heritance for one of his family. To arrest this danger, 
William had endeavored to arrange a division of the Span- 
ish possessions among the claimants to the throne, and had 
concluded two partition treaties with Louis to this intent. 



The War of the Spanish Succession 371 

By Charles's will, however, Philip of Anjou, grandson of the 
French king, was declared heir to the whole of the Spanish 
territories. In defiance of all pledges Louis accepted the 
inheritance for his grandson. Again France seemed to 
menace the freedom of Europe, but in face of the Tory 
opposition William was powerless to interfere. 

Just at this moment the French king took a step which 
united all England against him. In 1701 James II died, Death of 
and Louis at once acknowledged as king of England the J ames n » 
young prince, James Edward, commonly known as the Pre- 
tender. A storm of indignation swept over England. Wil- Bright, III, 
liam used the opportunity to dissolve Parliament, and the 8 73. 8 74- 
elections resulted in a Whig majority. An act was passed 
requiring all holders of office in Church and State to take an 
oath abjuring the house of Stuart. War was now certain. 
In the moment of his triumph William died. 

Anne (1702-1714). — Anne Stuart was a good-hearted 
and rather commonplace woman, passionately loyal to the 
Church of England and hostile to Dissenters and Papists alike. 
A revival of Tory prospects followed Anne's succession. 
Her sympathies were with the Tories, and the new ministry, Marl- 
under Lord Godolphin, was drawn almost entirely from that borou i h - 
party. During the first part of the reign Marlborough G,een - 
was the real ruler of England, so complete was the ascen- 
dency which he and his wife had acquired over the queen. g "°g ' 
Circumstances rather than principle determined Marlbor- 
ough's politics, and for the time being he became a Tory. 

The War of the Spanish Succession. — In the spring of Green, 
1702 the war so ardently desired by William III began. PP- 682-687. 
France and Spain were pitted against England, Holland, 9 ' 9 °' 
Austria, and the Empire. The coalition was guided by the 
unrivalled military genius of Marlborough. The war was 
carried on at sea, as well as on land. There was fighting Bright, ill, 
in all the disputed territory, in Spain, in Italy, in Germany, 877-903. 
and in the Spanish Netherlands. The struggle even crossed 
the Atlantic and involved the French and English colonies 
in the New World. 



372 



Parties and Party Government 



Blenheim, 
1704. 



Green, 

pp. 715, 716. 



Bright, III, 
908-915. 



During the first two years of war Marlborough was occu- 
pied in securing the Dutch against attack by way of the 
Rhine or the Spanish Netherlands, while in Italy, Prince 
Eugene, commander of the Austrians, strove to hold back 
the French. The most important fighting in 1704 was on 
the upper Danube. Marlborough and Eugene had joined 
forces, and together they succeeded in inflicting an over- 
whelming defeat upon the French at Blenheim. The same 
year Gibraltar was surprised and captured by an English 
force. In 1 706 Marlborough won the victory of Ramillies, 
leaving the French scarcely a foothold in the Spanish 
Netherlands. At the same time, through the efforts of 
Prince Eugene, they were swept from Italy. During the 
next two years, with many alternations of success and 
failure, the allies slowly gained ground. France was be- 
coming exhausted. The defeat of Oudenarde and the fall 
of Lille (1708) forced Louis to sue for peace. He offered 
to yield every point for which the war had been fought. He 
agreed to withdraw aid from his grandson, to acknowledge 
Anne, to expel the Pretender from French territory. But 
when, in opposition to Marlborough's advice, the allies in- 
sisted that Louis should join with them in driving Philip 
from Spain, the great king drew back. " If I must wage 
war," he said, "I would rather wage it against my enemies 
than against my children." 

Marlborough and the Whigs. — Marlborough's chief in- 
terest in English politics was to secure support in carrying 
on the war. At first he had relied upon the Tories, but he 
was gradually forced to act with the Whigs. The extreme 
Tories disliked the war and were determined that England 
should restrict her part in it to defensive operations. More- 
over, their attempts to maintain the exclusive suprem- 
acy of the English Church weakened the government by 
alienating the Dissenters. In 1 703 and 1 704 the ministry 
was remodelled so as to include moderate men of both par- 
ties. Among the new Tory ministers was St. John, perhaps 
the ablest and most unscrupulous politician of the time. 



Fall of the Whigs 373 

The popularity of the war and the divisions among the 
Tories secured a majority for the Whig party in the elections 
of 1705, and the election of 1708 strengthened their posi- 
tion. Every change in the ministry was in their interest, 
and finally, in 1708, an exclusively Whig cabinet under 
Marlborough and Godolphin was established. 

It was with great difficulty that the queen was brought to 
the point of accepting the Whig ministers. She was no 
longer under Marlborough's influence and she hated the 
Whigs as the foes of the Church and of the royal preroga- 
tive. Every change in the ministry which tended to in- 
crease their ascendency met with her bitter opposition. The 
Whig ministry of 1 708 was therefore a cabinet resting upon a 
majority in Parliament and imposing its will upon the crown. 

Fall of the Whigs. — The triumph of the Whigs was of 
brief duration. After the failure of the peace negotiations Green, 
of 1709, war was renewed. At Malplaquet (1709) the PP- 7*7. 718 
allied forces under Marlborough and Eugene succeeded in 
again defeating the French, though with tremendous loss 
of life. But England was growing weary of the war. The 
rejection of the French terms of peace was unjustly attrib- 
uted to Marlborough's desire to continue a contest which 
gave him power and importance. Since the fate of the 
Whigs was closely bound up with the war, they began to 
lose ground. Their ruin was completed by the unwise 
measures of the ministry against Dr. Sacheverell, who, in a 
sermon at St. Paul's, upheld the doctrine of non-resistance 
and attacked toleration and the Dissenters. The Whigs 
desired an opportunity for formally stating their views on 
the Revolution principles of resistance and toleration, and 
Sacheverell was solemnly impeached before the House of Impeach- 
Lords (1710). The matter was taken up by the whole ™ ei " of 

V , ' r Sacheverell, 

country. There was a tremendous outburst of enthusiasm I7IO 
for the Church and the principle of legitimacy. The House 
of Lords declared Sacheverell guilty, but dared do no more 
than to prohibit him from preaching for three years and to 
order his sermons to be burnt. 



374 



Parties and Party Government 



Bright, III, 

924-928. 

Green, 

pp. 687-689. 



Act of 
Security. 



Act of 
Union, 1707. 



The result of the trial was regarded as a Tory triumph. 
Sure of the support of the country, the queen now ventured 
to act in accordance with her feelings. The Whigs were 
dismissed from office and a purely Tory ministry under Har- 
ley and St. John was formed. The election of 1 710 resulted 
in a strong majority for the Tories, and during the remainder 
of Anne's reign their ascendency was unshaken. 

The Union of England and Scotland. — The renewal of the 
union of Scotland and England as established under the 
Commonwealth was strongly favored by the government. 
There were great difficulties in the way, — traditional hos- 
tility, religious division, commercial jealousy, the national 
pride of the Scotch. Scotland 
was held back through fear 
that the stronger nation would 
fail to respect her religious and 
political rights. England was 
unwilling to grant commercial 
equality to the poorer kingdom. 
The discussion of the terms of 
union aroused great bitterness. 
In 1 703 the Scottish Parliament 
passed the Act of Security, 
which provided that the suc- 
cessor to the crown of Scotland at the queen's death should 
not be the same person as the successor to the crown of 
England unless full security was given for freedom of religion 
and trade. The English Parliament retorted by increasing 
the commercial restrictions against Scotland. 

The advantages of union to both nations were, however, so 
great that the Whig ministers finally succeeded in carrying 
through an act of Union (1707). The terms were wise and 
liberal. The title of the United Kingdom was to be Great 
Britain. There was to be one Parliament, and Scotland 
received full representation in both Houses. Free trade 
and commercial equality were established. Security was 
provided for the national Church and the national law of 




Great Seal 



he Union 



The Tories and the Peace of U tree Jit 375 

the Scotch. To both countries the union proved an un- 
mixed benefit. 

The Tories and the Peace of Utrecht. — The new Tory Bright, ill, 
ministry was bent on bringing the French war to a close. s^S^i- 
It spared no effort to throw discredit upon the upholders 
of the opposite policy, and in this it had now the support 
of Jonathan Swift, the greatest political writer of the time. 
In the Commons the ministerial majority was sure, but in 
the House of Lords, the Whigs, led by Marlborough, were 
strong enough to secure a condemnation of the peace 
policy. To overcome their opposition Harley, Earl of 
Oxford, induced the queen to create twelve new Tory 
peers, and thus bring the Upper House into harmony with 
the Commons. This measure was of great constitutional 
importance, since it indicated that hereafter when the two 
Houses disagreed it would be the House of Lords that 
must give way. The Tory victory over the Lords was 
followed by an attack upon Marlborough. He was re- 
moved from his command and declared guilty of pecu- 
lation by the House of Commons. 

Since their accession to office in 17 10 the Tory ministers 
had been carrying on negotiations with Louis. Finally, in 
1 713, by concluding a separate truce with France, the Eng- Green, 
lish ministers forced all the allies except the Emperor to PP- 6 93. 6 94- 
agree to the treaty of Utrecht. Philip was allowed to re- Treaty of 
tain his kingdom, but a provision was added to the effect Utrecht, 
that the crowns of Spain and France should never be lyl3 ' 
united. England secured good terms, obtaining Minorca 
and Gibraltar in the Mediterranean and in America the 
Hudson Bay territory, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the 
French part of St. Christopher. By a special treaty with 
Spain, called the Assiento, English merchants were given 
the sole right of supplying the Spanish colonies with negro 
slaves x and also permission to send annually one trading ship 
to Panama. As an offset to these material gains England 

1 From this time on the slave trade was largely in the hands of Bristol 
merchants. 



Jright, III, 
922-924. 



376 Parties and Party Government 

had lost all credit abroad by her shabby treatment of her 
allies. 
Green, The Tories and the Succession. — In 1 713 the failing health 

p. 694. f tne q U een brought forward the question of the succession. 

The position of the Tories was difficult. They had nothing 
to hope from the accession of the house of Hanover, there 
were many who desired the restoration of the old line, and 
St. John, Lord Bolingbroke, and some of the leaders had 
been long in correspondence with the Pretender. It was cer- 
tain, however, that the country gentry and the parish clergy, 
the strongest elements in the Tory party, would refuse to ac- 
cept a Catholic king. If James Edward had consented at this 
time to declare himself a Protestant, he might possibly have 
obtained the crown, but he loyally refused to change his faith. 
Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke did not give up his endeavor to secure the 
domination of the Tory party. In 17 14 he carried through 
Parliament the Schism Act, by which the whole education 
of the country was put under the control of the Church. 
Already, by the Occasional Conformity Act of 1 711, it was 
made practically impossible for Dissenters to hold office or sit 
in Parliament. But quarrels in the ministry delayed the corn- 
Death of pletion of Bolingbroke's schemes, and the Whigs acted with 
Anne, 1714. wisdom and decision. On the death of the queen in August, 
1 7 14,' the Elector of Hanover 1 was at once proclaimed king. 
The Early Hanoverians. — The unopposed accession of 
George I showed that after a struggle of almost thirty years, 

l HOUSE OF HANOVER 
George I, 1714-1727 
George II, 1727-1760 
Frederick, Prince of Wales 
George III, 1760-1820 

I 1 1 

George IV, 1820-1830 William IV, 1830-1837 Edward, Duke 

I of Kent 

Princess Charlotte | 

Victoria, 1837 



Fall of the Tories 377 

England had finally accepted the principle of succession by 
parliamentary title. The people were glad to regard the 
question as settled and to turn to other interest?. 

There was nothing in the new rulers to arouse enthusiasm 
or to call out personal loyalty. George I was industrious 
and businesslike, and George II was a fair soldier; both 
were honest and straightforward men. They were devoted 
to Hanover and Hanoverian politics, and they cared little 
for England. They had the good sense to recognize the 
conditions on which alone they could hope to retain the 
English crown. In Hanover they were petty despots, but 
in England they made no attempt to tamper with a consti- 
tution which they did not understand, and, save where 
Hanoverian interests were concerned, they gave the control 
of affairs unreservedly into the hands of their ministers. 1 

The House of Hanover and the Whigs. — The accession of Green, 
the house of Hanover was followed by forty-five years of P p - 721 ' 72a 
unbroken Whig ascendency. The first George was the king 
of a party. He felt that he owed his crown to the Whigs, 
and he had been led to regard all Tories as Jacobites. The 
alliance which he established with the Whigs lasted through- 
out his reign and that of his son, George II. During much 
of this time a Tory party scarcely existed. The intrigues of 
the leaders with the Pretender resulted in the breaking up 
of the party, one section going over to Jacobitism, another 
joining the Whigs. In the earlier Hanoverian Parliaments, 
the Tories in the House of Commons numbered scarcely 
fifty. For forty-five years the real rulers of England were 
the leaders of the Whig party. They had their favor of the 
crown, but the real basis of their power was the steady sup- 
port of the Dissenters and the commercial classes and the 
Parliamentary influence of the Whig houses. 

Fall of the Tories. — The Parliament which met in 1715 Bright, 111, 
was strongly Whig. Energetic measures were taken against 93*. 93 2 - 

1 George I spoke no English, and therefore he was not present at 
cabinet meetings, thus establishing a precedent of great constitutional 
importance. 



378 



Parties and Party Government 



Attack on the 

Tory 

ministry. 



Green, 

pp. 696, 697. 



Jacobite 
rising, 17 15. 



Septennial 
Act, 1707. 



Bright, III, 
938, 939- 



the defeated Tories. The negotiations of the peace of Utrecht 
were condemned. Impeachment was still the accepted way 
of calling ministers to account, and both Oxford and Boling- 
broke were impeached for treason. Bohngbroke fled to 
France and was attainted. Oxford was seized and com- 
mitted to the Tower for a time, when the proceedings against 
him were dropped. This is the last instance in English his- 
tory of a political impeachment. 

Whig persecution tended to increase the Jacobitism of 
the Tories. Both in Scotland and in England there were 
many ready to rise against the new government. In Sep- 
tember, 1 7 15, a Jacobite insurrection, headed by the Earl 
of Mar, broke out in Scotland, and a month later the 
Jacobites of the north of England took up arms. The rising 
was mismanaged from beginning to end. The Pretender did 
not arrive until the contest was really decided, while the 
Whigs acted with vigor. On November 13, the English in- 
surgents were defeated at Preston, and on the same day at 
Sheriffmuir, Argyle won a practical victory over the Scotch 
Jacobites. The only effect of the rising was to strengthen the 
Whigs by identifying the Tories more closely with Jacobitism. 

The Triennial Act of 1694 limited the life of a Parliament 
to three years, and a general election was due in 17 17. In 
the excited state of feeling the Whigs dared not face the 
country, and accordingly they passed the Septennial Act l 
(1716), by which the existing Parliament was prolonged four 
years. This action of the Whigs was undoubtedly high- 
handed and perhaps illegal, but the establishment of the house 
of Hanover as well as their own tenure of power was at stake. 

The Stanhope Ministry. — The position of the Whigs was 
now so secure that they fell to quarrelling among them- 
selves and they soon broke into two parties, one headed by 
Townshend and Walpole, the other by Sunderland and Stan- 
hope. In 1717a new ministry, in which Townshend and Wal- 
pole were not included, was organized with Stanhope as chief. 

1 Under this act, which still remains in force, the duration of a Parlia- 
ment is limited to seven years, 



The Ministry of Sir Robert Walpole 379 

The danger from the Jacobites as well as the industrial Green, 
needs of the country led the Whigs to support peace pp - 7 26 -7 28 - 
measures. Their foreign policy was directed to securing the 
maintenance of the terms of the peace of Utrecht. In 1 7 1 7 
Stanhope succeeded in forming with France and Holland 
what is known as the Triple Alliance. It was based on an 
entire reversal of the policy of Louis XIV. The French 
government now gave its adherence to the Protestant suc- 
cession in England and agreed to banish the Pretender 
from its territories, and the complete separation of the 
French and Spanish crowns was conceded. 

In 1721 the Stanhope ministry was ruined by the South Bright, ill, 
Sea Bubble. The reestablishment of peace had been 94 8 ~953- 
followed by a great increase in trade and speculation. 
Many trading companies were formed. The most im- 
portant of these was the South Sea Company. Through South Sea 
the Assiento the company had prospered greatly. In Bubble - 
1720, desiring to extend its financial operations, it struck a 
bargain with the government by which holders of the na- 
tional debt were allowed to transfer their loans to the South 
Sea Company. As exaggerated ideas prevailed with regard 
to the wealth of Spanish America, enormous profits were ex- 
pected and there was such a rush for the South Sea Company's 
stock that the shares soon stood at one thousand per cent. A 
madness of speculation surged over the country. In a fever- 
ish desire to ge't rich quickly, people invested their money 
in all kinds of worthless and bogus enterprises. In 1721 the 
crash came, the bubble companies failed, the South Sea shares 
went down rapidly. Thousands were beggared. Through 
its connection with the South Sea Company the ministry was 
held responsible for the disasters that had befallen the coun- 
try. It was overthrown, and Walpole, whose financial ability 
was well known, was called to take charge of the adminis- 
tration. 

The Ministry of Sir Robert Walpole. — In 1721 Walpole Green, 
became First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the pp- 692,699. 
Exchequer, and he continued to hold these offices practi- 



380 Parties and Party Government 

cally without a break for twenty-one years. Even the death 
Bright, ill, of George I (1727) did not permanently shake Walpole's 
9 66 - power ; for, through the influence of Queen Caroline, a 

very able woman, the new king, George II (172 7-1 760), 
was induced to give his confidence to his father's minister. 
Walpole's administration forms an important period in Eng- 
lish history, but it is devoid of striking events. This was 
due mainly to the influence of the great minister. To estab- 
lish the Revolution settlement and to restore the commer- 
cial and industrial prosperity of the country were the objects 
of his policy. Peace abroad and contentment at home were 
essential to the success of his plans. It was his constant 
effort, therefore, to keep England out of war, and to avoid 
stirring up trouble among the people. He took for his 
motto Quieta non movere (let sleeping dogs lie). The 
country had just passed through eighty years of revolution. 
He felt that it needed repose, not reform. 
Green, Finance. — Walpole was one of the greatest masters of 

PP- 73°-73 2 - finance that England has ever had. His measures were 
timely. He reduced the debt and lightened the customs. 
Bright, ill, Some of his plans miscarried, however, through unreasoning 
957. 973-975- popular opposition, skilfully played upon by his political oppo- 
nents. In 1730 an Englishman named Wood was granted a 
patent to issue a new copper coinage for Ireland. The coins 
were of good value, the need for them was undoubted, and 
no one was obliged to take them against his will. But Irish 
opposition to any measure of the English government was 
Saintsbury, ready. Dean Swift, Walpole's bitter enemy, fomented the 
Political dissatisfaction with the famous Drapier's Letters. Walpole 
would run no risk of an outbreak, and the patent was with- 
drawn. A far more important measure was defeated by 
Excise Bill, popular violence in England. The Excise Bill of 1 733 was 
simply a proposal to transfer wine and tobacco from the 
customs to the excise ; that is, to replace the duty on im- 
portation by a tax on home consumption. The change 
would put a stop to smuggling and so augment the revenue 
that the land tax might be reduced, to the gratification of 



Foreign Affairs 381 

the country gentlemen, a class Walpole desired to conciliate. 
In addition, it would tend to make London a free port, 
and in consequence a more important market. But the 
character of the measure was misunderstood, and it was 
greeted with a fierce popular outcry. The opposition, 
aided by the Craftsman, a famous Tory paper, spared 
no pains to increase the agitation. Walpole's majority in 
the House was secure, but he refused to force his measure 
upon an unwilling people, and the scheme was abandoned. 

In the main Walpole's commercial and colonial policy 
was a policy of non-interference, but where he did interfere 
he was guided by sound principle. In the king's speech of 
1 72 1 it was declared to be the purpose of the government 
" to make the exportation of our own manufactures, and the 
importation of the commodities used in the manufacturing 
of them, as practicable and as easy as may be." Accord- 
ingly export duties were removed from one hundred and 
six articles of British manufacture, and import duties from 
thirty-eight articles of raw material. Other wise measures Colonial 
removed some of the restrictions on the foreign trade of measures - 
the American and West Indian colonies. The results of 
Walpole's policy were shown in the increased prosperity 
of the colonies, and in the striking growth of England's trade 
with them. 

Foreign Affairs. — With the peace of Utrecht, opposi- 
tion to France, the controlling principle of European com- 
binations for half a century, ceased to have any force. The 
uncertainty of continental politics during the next genera- 
tion was shown in a series of alliances and counter-alliances. 
England's part in foreign affairs was determined by Wal- 
pole's desire to maintain a general peace, and to keep 
England out of war at all hazards. His policy, like Stan- 
hope's, was based on an alliance with France. Both the 
peace policy and the French alliance aroused bitter oppo- 
sition, and in 1733 it seemed certain that Walpole would 
have to give way on both points. France and Spain had The Family 
just concluded the Family Compact, binding themselves Com P act - 



382 Parties and Party Government 

to oppose England's commercial and colonial expansion. 
The king and queen, a majority in the Cabinet and in the 
nation, were determined to force England to give up her 
neutrality and declare war. Still Walpole did not yield. 
"Madam," he said to the queen one morning in 1734, 
" there are fifty thousand men slain this year in Europe, and 
not one Englishman." Largely through his efforts a general 
pacification was arranged in 1735. 
Green, The Opposition. — But the end cf peace was at hand, 

pp. 702-705. -r/he pp 0s ition was growing strong. It was made up of 
967^969, ' several different elements, — a little band of Tories led by 
980-984. Bolingbroke, now back in England, disappointed Whigs, 

who called themselves the Patriots, a group of young men, 
the Young Patriots, who were disgusted v/ith the corruption 
in government, and held Walpole responsible for it all. 
At the head of the opposition was Frederick, Prince of 
Wales, a worthless young man, chiefly influenced by a 
desire to vex his father, with whom he had quarrelled. 
Difficulties with Spain soon gave a good chance for attack 
upon Walpole. Under the Assiento giving England the right 
to send annually one trading ship to Spanish America, an 
extensive smuggling trade had sprung up. In their efforts 
to check this the Spanish officials sometimes treated the 
English traders with great brutality. Popular feeling be- 
came much aroused. The opposition spared no efforts to 
increase the agitation. A certain Captain Jenkins was 
brought before a committee of the House to tell the tale of 
how his ear was torn off by a Spanish naval officer who 
War with boarded his ship in search of contraband. Walpole could 
Spam, 1739. not withstand the storm of indignation that swept over the 
country. In 1739 war was declared against Spain. 

Fall of Walpole. — For two years longer Walpole remained 

Bright, ill, m office. The war against Spain was not successful, and he 

984-987. was held responsible. In 1 741 a general election reduced his 

majority in the Commons. Election petitions were at that 

time decided in the House of Commons and entirely on 

party grounds. On the Chippenham election petition, 



The Constitution under Walpolc 383 

Walpole was beaten by a majority of one. Early in 1742 
he resigned. His work was done. He had secured for 
England nearly twenty years of peace, he had established 
the house of Hanover firmly on the throne, he had advanced 
the material interests of the country. 




The Old House of Commons 

From an Old Print 



The Constitution under Walpole. — During Walpole's long 
tenure of office the cabinet system received definite shape. 
He was the first English minister who may rightly be called 



584 



Parties and Party Government 



Green, prime minister. He was head of the cabinet, he chose his 

P fi- 722, 723, colleagues in that body, the policy of the government was 
his policy. His ministry was practically a unit, and his power 
was founded directly on the support of the House of Com- 
mons, and he resigned when he lost that support. The 
House of Commons did not, however, represent the nation. 
Constitutional development stopped short at this point. 
The Revolution of 1688 secured the supremacy of Parlia- 
Source-Book, ment over the executive, but that did not mean government 
3 °rI 3 ° 5 ' kv the people. A few great families ruled the nation in the 

name of a king who was a mere figure-head, and by the 
authority of a Parliament which they systematically corrupted. 
Power had been acquired without a corresponding increase 
of responsibility. Debates were secret, division lists 1 were 
never published, public opinion could exert but little in- 
fluence. Moreover, the electoral system was such that the 
House in nowise represented the nation. In the counties 
there had been no change in the franchise since the time 
of Henry VI. The manner of holding land had been modi- 
fied, and new forms of property had come into existence, 
but the electors were still the forty-shilling freeholders. 
The condition of the towns was far worse. Many had 
fallen under the control of the corporations, and the right 
of voting was limited to a mere handful of the inhabitants. 
In others, all sorts of anomalous franchises existed. In 
Weymouth, for example, the title to any share of certain 
ancient rents constituted the qualification for voting. The 
report of a commission of inspection showed that several 
electors voted by right of their claim to an undivided 
twentieth part of a sixpence. For generations there had 
been no reapportionment of seats. Population had shifted 
without a corresponding change of representation. Lan- 
cashire, with nearly one and a half million inhabitants, 
had fourteen representatives ; Cornwall's three hundred 
thousand inhabitants returned forty-four members. Great 



The 
franchise 



1 It was not until 1836 that the House of Commons adopted the plan of 
recording and publishing day by day the votes of every member. 



The Religious Revival 385 

cities like Birmingham and Manchester were unrepresented, 
while old Sarum, with but one house, and Dunwich, which 
had disappeared under the waves of the North Sea, still 
returned their two members. It was, in the words of 
Burke, a system of " represented ruins and unrepresented 
cities." 

Political Corruption. — Such a condition of things natu- 
rally invited corruption. Many of the towns were "pocket " 
or nomination boroughs, controlled by some neighboring 
noble or landowner. Others were put up publicly for sale, Sale of 
the customary price being about ^4000. Contested elec- seats - 
tions, when they occurred, involved the expenditure of im- 
mense sums of money. One in Yorkshire in 1807 cost nearly 
^150,000. Under this condition of things, systematic 
bribery seemed the only means of securing party success 
or of giving stability to the government. Corruption began 
with the meanest voter and ended in the cabinet. Large 
sums were expended in the purchase of seats. Places and Bribery, 
pensions and titles were the rewards held out to the sup- 
porters of the administration. In the first Parliament of 
George I two hundred and seventy-one of the members 
held offices or pensions. One of the most arduous duties 
of the ministers was the disposal of the secret service funds. 
At one time an office was established at the treasury for the 
purchase of members, and more than ^20,000 are said to 
have been spent in a single day. The example of the gov- 
ernment was followed by all the great lords. Careful esti- 
mates showed that at least three-fifths of the members of 
the House were returned by the crown and by one hundred 
and sixty-two private individuals. 

The Religious Revival. — Under the early Hanoverians, Green, 
there was a marked decline in religious feeling and moral pp- 706-711. 

™ , Bright, III, 

earnestness throughout the nation. The upper classes were IOI5 _ IOI7 . 
material and sceptical, the lower classes ignorant and 
brutal. Neither the Church nor the Dissenting bodies Source-Book, 
seemed able to cope with the existing evil. The Church 33 2 -335- 
was weakened by division. To counteract the Jacobite 



386 



Parties and Party Government 



The 
Methodists, 



tendencies of the clergy, appointments to high ecclesiastical 
offices, which were controlled by the crown, had been con- 
fined to Whigs. As a result the upper clergy were Whig 
and Hanoverian, while the lower clergy were Tory or Jaco- 
bite. The bishops reflected the tone of the fashionable 
world ; they were latitudinarian and unspiritual, and many 
of them were non-resident. The parish clergy were usually 
narrow and ignorant. Among the Dissenters, religious zeal 
had cooled, and the Roman Catholics were powerless. 

Here and there thinking men like Bishop Butler strove to 
inspire the Church with new life, but it was the Wesleys 
and Whitfield who took up the work of moving the 
masses. The Methodist movement, which started about 
1730, received its name from the college nickname of 
the group of Oxford men who were its guiding spirits. 
John Wesley, an ordained clergyman of the Anglican 
Church, was the undisputed leader and organizer of 
the movement. The aim of Wesley and his associates 
was to make religion more heartfelt, to bring it to the 
masses untouched by the cold formalism of the Church. 
Outdoor preaching was their means of reaching the people. 
The results were tremendous. Immense crowds gathered 
wherever they went. As many as twenty thousand assem- 
bled at one time to hear Whitfield, the great preacher of the 
Methodists. At first Wesley had no thought of separating 
from the Church, but the narrow-minded hostility of the 
clergy gradually forced him to organize congregations out- 
side the Church. Before he died he had built up a great 
religious society whose influence was transforming the char- 
acter of the lower classes. But Methodism did more than 
this ; it aroused the Church from its lethargy, and the Evan- 
gelical movement was the result. Indirectly it stimulated 
Philanthropy, philanthropic interest. The labors of John Howard on be- 
half of the felon and the imprisoned debtor, the efforts of 
Clarkson and Wilberforce to put down the slave trade, can 
be traced to that sympathy with mankind which was the 
foundation of the Wesleyan propaganda. 



Important Events 387 

Important Events 

William and Mary, i 689-1 702. 

The Bill of Rights, 1689. 
The Act of Toleration, 1689. 
War with France, 1 689-1 697. 
Act of Settlement, 1701. 

Anne, 1702-17 14. 

War with France, 1702-17 13. 
Blenheim, Gibraltar, 1704. 
Union with Scotland, 1707. 
Treaty of Utrecht, 171 3. 

EARLY HANOVERIANS 

George I, 1714-1727. George II, 1727-1760. 
Septennial Act, 17 16. 
Ministry of Walpole, 1721-742. 
Family Compact, 1733. 



388 Parties and Party Government 



-i- <*> S? : ~ 

«= ^ £r r^^ g} 



-d £• . " -d ^ ^ " ~ .2 . • o o 



w 



■a ^ 






►H OS 



5 z "d . 

^ ^ m S 3 

w '3 "3 "s* 



5 



£ 2 < o 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 

Donne, Correspondence of George III ana Lord North. 

Chatham, Speeches and Correspondence. 

Adams, British Orations. 

Adams and Stephens, Hill, Henderson, as before. 

Special Authorities 

Blauvelt, Development of Cabinet Government. 

May, Constitutional History of England. 

Lecky, History of England in the Eighteenth Century. 

Hunt, Political History of England, Vol. X. 

Morley, IValpole, Edmund Burke. 

Trevelyan, Life of Charles fames Fox, The American Revolution. 

Macaulay, Essays on Chatham and on Clive. 

Goldwin Smith, Pitt (in Three English Statesmen). 

Seeley, Expansion of England. 

Cotton and Payne, Colonies and Dependencies. 

Lucas, Introduction to the Historical Geography of the British 

Colonies. 
Bradley, Fight with France for North America. 
Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe. 
Mahan, Influence of Sea Power upon History. 
Lyall, British Dominion in India. 
Oman, England in the Nineteenth Century. 

"The Second Hundred Years' War." — Sixty-four out of the 

one hundred and twenty-six years that divide the Revolution 

from the battle of Waterloo were spent in war. From the 

continental point of view the occasion for these wars of the 

389 



390 The Struggle for Empire 

Seeley, eighteenth century was usually dynastic. There was the war 

Expansion Q f t ^ e Spanish Succession, and the war of the Austrian Sue- 
Lecture II. cession, and the Seven Years' War between Frederick II of 
Prussia and Maria Theresa. England took part in all these 
great contests, but her object was mainly the extension of 
colonial and commercial power ; her interest was determined 
by her rivalry with France. This is shown in the invariable 
accompaniment of fighting in America, in the King William's 
War and the Queen Anne's War and the French and Indian 
wars of the colonists. 

At the close of the seventeenth century the efforts of 
Colbert, the great French minister, had placed France in 
the foremost rank of colonial powers. She had established 
herself in India, in Africa, and in the West Indies. Her hold 
upon the American continent seemed far more assured than 
England's. She controlled the St. Lawrence and the Missis- 
sippi, the two great waterways of America, and Canada, 
Acadia, and Louisiana were in her possession. The English 
colonies were blocked by the Spanish on the south, on the 
north and toward the west by the French. In 1701 Philip 
of Anjou accepted the Spanish crown, and Louis declared 
with truth, " The French and Spanish nations are so united 
that they will henceforth be only one." To the ambition 
and enterprise of the French was now joined Spain's vast 
colonial power. England's fears were aroused at the dangers 
that menaced her commercial and colonial importance, and 
she made ready to resist the encroachments of her great rival. 
England in India. — Vasco da Gama's discovery of a new 
route to India round the Cape of Good Hope renewed the 
direct connection between Europe and India which had been 
broken since the time of Alexander the Great. The first to 
take advantage of Da Gama's discoveries were the Portuguese, 
and by the middle of the sixteenth century they had established 
themselves at Goa on the western coast of India, and north- 
ward as far as Ormuz in the Persian Gulf. Toward the end 
of the century the Dutch appeared, and they secured a foot- 
hold both on the mainland and in the Spice Islands. 



France in India 391 

England's connection with India began with the establish- 
ment of the East India Company in 1600. The object of 
the company was to secure a share of the trade of the East. 
Their progress at first was slow, but before the close of the 
seventeenth century they had succeeded in establishing the 
three factories of Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta. Dutch 
and Portuguese rivalry was dying out, and England's mo- 
nopoly of the Indian trade seemed assured when a new and 
more dangerous competitor appeared. 

France in India. — Not until the reign of Louis XIV did 
France enter the Indian field, but the French Company, 
which was formed in 1684, showed great enterprise and 
speedily established flourishing trading-posts at Chander- 
nagor on the Hugh, Pondicherry, eighty miles south of 
Madras, and in Mauritius and the Isle de Bourbon. About 
the middle of the eighteenth century the English and 
French companies came into active competition. 

In 1707 the long reign of Aurung-Zeb, the greatest of 
the Mogul emperors, came to a close. Aurung-Zeb 
had succeeded in establishing the Mogul supremacy over 
most of the main part and peninsula of India, but upon his 
death his great empire began at once to break up. Power 
fell into the hands of nabobs or viceroys who were practically 
independent, although nominally owing allegiance to the 
court of Delhi. India sank rapidly into a state of chronic 
war, torn by invasions and rebellions and quarrels over dis- 
puted successions. 

The governor of the French presidency of Pondicherry 
was Dupleix, a man of great force and genius. With re- 
markable penetration Dupleix saw the possibilities of Indian 
politics, and the methods to be pursued, and he went to 
work with much patience and adroitness to build up a- French 
empire in India. The rivalries and quarrels of the native 
princes were his opportunity, but the secret of his success 
lay in his realization of the two facts that while the untrained 
native armies could not stand against European discipline, 
it was possible to impart that discipline and efficiency to 



392 The Struggle for Empire 

native levies. Backed by sepoys, hired native troops led 
and drilled by Europeans, he proceeded to interfere in Indian 
affairs wherever opportunity offered, holding the balance of 
power, placing his claimant upon the throne, and finally 
securing controlling influence. So great was his success, 
that by 1750 he had obtained complete ascendency in the 
Carnatic, and was practically supreme over the whole of the 
Deccan. 

The War of the Austrian Succession. — There was some 

See page 383. difficulty in forming a ministry after Walpole's fall in 1742. 
The Tories were still too weak to obtain recognition, and the 
Whig factions were agreed only in opposing Walpole. A 
ministry was finally organized under the control of the two 
brothers Pelham and Newcastle, and Carteret. During the 
next few years domestic interests were forced into the back- 
ground by foreign affairs. In 1740 the War of the Austrian 

Green, 704, Succession broke out. In that year Maria Theresa succeeded 
to the possession of the Austrian territories, and was at once 
forced to defend her inheritance against the attacks of 
Prussia, France, and other European powers, most of whom 
had sworn to defend her rights. Walpole, true to his deter- 
mination to avoid war, had striven to effect a peaceable 
settlement of the matter. When Carteret took control of 
foreign affairs, a more spirited policy was adopted. An 
alliance was entered into with Austria, British troops were 
sent over to the Continent, the navy was increased, Han- 
overian forces were taken into English pay. In 1743 a 
body of Hessians and Hanoverians under George II de- 
feated the French at Dettingen. 

Gradually England's interest in the war changed. The 
object was no longer to defend Austria, but to crush France. 
In 1743 the Family Compact between France and Spain 
was renewed. Moreover, the commercial and colonial 
rivalry between the Bourbon powers and England was 
forced to the front. After 1744 there was fighting in India 
and America, as well as in Europe. Carteret, who took a 
continental view of the situation, wished to form a European 



7*2, 715. 



The Jacobite Rebellion 393 

combination, and to conquer the French on land. The Bright, in, 
English people, on the other hand, desired that England I011 - IOX2 - 
should concentrate her energies upon a naval struggle with 
France. In 1744 Carteret retired from the Cabinet, but no 
change of policy followed. The contest continued for four 
years longer, the campaigns marked throughout by inca- 
pacity on the part of the English, the only real success be- 
ing won by the colonials in the capture of Louisburg. In 1745. 
1748 the war was brought to a close by the treaty of Aix-la- Treaty of 
Chapelle, which was, however, nothing more than a truce, Al *- ]a - Cha - 
for it settled none of the great issues that divided Europe. 

The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. — While England was 
still at war with France, a Jacobite rising in Scotland proved 
the justice of Walpole's fear that foreign war would be the Green, 713, 
signal for a renewed attempt to overthrow the house of 7I 5- 
Hanover. In August, 1745, Prince Charles Edward, the Bright, 1 1 1. 
Young Pretender, landed in the western Highlands with a 999-1009. 
small band of followers. After a little hesitation some of 
the clans rallied to his standard. At this time there were 
few regular troops in Scotland, and the Pretender succeeded 
in leading his Highlanders as far south as Derby. But he 
was disappointed in his hopes of rallying the English to his 
support ; the people remained apathetic, neither supporting 
nor opposing his advance. At Derby, the approach of troops 
under the Duke of Cumberland forced him to retreat north- 
ward. In the following spring, his forces were completely 
defeated at Culloden, near Inverness, and he was forced to Culloden, 
flee to France. He never had much chance of success, for I746, 
he found no support except among the Highlanders. This 
was the last rising of the Jacobites. Although there was 
little enthusiasm for the House of Hanover, it was plain that 
the cause of the Stuarts was lost. 1 To prevent further diffi- 
culty, severe restrictions were imposed upon the High- 
landers ; they were forbidden to wear the tartan, and the 
power of the chiefs of the clans was greatly limited. A little 

1 The last descendant in the male line of the house of Stuart died in 1807 
a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic church. 



394 



The Struggle for Empire 



Green, 715, 
716. 

Bright, III, 
1018-1022. 



later several Highland regiments were raised by Pitt, thus 
absorbing the warlike energies of the clansmen. 

The Situation in India and in America. — Outside of Eu- 
rope the treaty of 1748 did not secure even a temporary 
cessation of war. In America and in India the contest for 
supremacy between the English and the French was becom- 
ing acute, and, although the two nations were still formally at 
peace, there was fighting both on land and on sea. 

In India, Dupleix continued, with splendid energy, to 
develop his plans for the expulsion of the English and the 
establishment of a great French empire. The East India 
Company watched anxiously Dupleix's rapid advance, but 
at first seemed powerless to check it. The crisis brought 
forward Robert Clive, a clerk in the Company's service, and 
his energy and skill saved English influence from extinction. 
He collected a small English and sepoy force, rallied some 
of the native princes to his side, and succeeded in inflicting 
several damaging defeats upon the French. This was the 
turning-point in the contest. Dupleix, who had received 
no support from the home government, was recalled in 1 754, 
and he had no successor capable of carrying on the work so 
well begun. In America the French were more successful. 
A determined effort on their part to secure possession of the 
Ohio valley aroused the fears of the English, and in 1755 a 
small force of British regulars and colonials under General 
Braddock tried to capture the French stronghold, Fort 
Duquesne, at the forks of the Ohio. Unfortunately the Eng- 
lish leaders scorned the irregular methods of fighting best 
adapted to frontier warfare, and they suffered complete defeat. 
Nor were other expeditions against the French more successful. 

Outbreak of the Seven Years' War. — In England the 
years following the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle were quiet and 
uneventful. Financial and commercial interests were still 
dominant. Henry Pelham remained at the head of the 
government until his death in 1754, when he was succeeded 
by his brother, the Duke of Newcastle. Many signs now 
pointed to a speedy renewal of war. Austria was bent on 



SCALE OF ENGLISH MILES 




PORMAV 4 CO., ENSR'i 



Triumph of England 395 

regaining Silesia, surrendered to Prussia by the treaty of Aix- 
la-Chapelle, and had drawn nearer France, while at the same 
time fear of French power was binding England and Prussia 
together. In 1756 a long train of negotiations ended in a 
new combination of the great European powers. England 
and Prussia were now opposed to Austria and France. 

The beginning of hostilities at once laid bare the inca- 
pacity of the Newcastle administration. The surrender of 
Minorca without a blow being struck in its defence raised such 
a popular outcry that Newcastle was forced to resign. Dur- 
ing the next few months a struggle went on between the 
ruling Whig houses supported by the crown on the one 
hand, and the opposition Whigs led by William Pitt and 
supported by the nation on the other. At last the Pitt- 
Newcastle ministry was formed. Pitt contributed genius, 
Newcastle a parliamentary majority. 

William Pitt. — The " Great Commoner" was one of the 
ablest war ministers England has ever had, and her first 
great popular minister. He came into prominence as leader 
of the Young Patriots in 1742. His integrity, his eloquence, 
his statesmanlike views, and the ardor of his patriotism had 
won him the devotion of his people. Disliked by the king 
and the politicians, he leaned not upon the House of Com- 
mons, but upon the nation, and his appointment to the con- Green, 
trol of affairs meant the triumph of popular will. At this 716-725- 
critical moment he was the one man capable of inspiring Bright, III, 
England with courage for the contest. " I know that I can I02 4 _I °33- 
save the nation, and that nobody else can," he declared. A 
new spirit at once became apparent in the administration. 
The army and navy were reorganized and supplies were 
raised without difficulty. 

Triumph of England. — By 1758 the results of Pitt's sowce-Boofc 
efforts became apparent in the successes of the English in 342-349- 
Canada and on the sea. The French ports were blockaded, 
the French possessions in India and Canada were attacked. 
Louisburg and Fort Duquesne were taken. 1759 was a 
year of triumphs. English supremacy on the sea was se- 



396 The Struggle for Empire 

cured by the victory of Quiberon, and with the fall of Que- 
bec the northern colonies of France passed into the control 
of England. 

The outbreak of the Seven Years' War was accompanied 
by a renewal of the struggle in India. Now for the first 
time the English came into direct conflict with the native 
rulers. Acting under French influence, Surajah Dowlah, 
nawab of Bengal, attacked and captured the English settle- 
ment of Calcutta in 1 756. The English who were taken 
prisoners were thrown into a tiny cell, the " Black Hole," 
and kept there during the fierce heat of an Indian summer 
night. When morning came only twenty-three out of one 
hundred and forty-six were alive. The English from Madras 
took speedy revenge. Calcutta was recaptured, and in 
June, 1757, Clive, with a small force of English and sepoys, 
defeated Surajah Dowlah's army at Plassey. By this victory 
the English Company obtained supreme control over Ben- 
gal, a territory of some thirty million inhabitants. Two 
years later the French were defeated at Wandewash by 
Coote, one of Give's lieutenants, and with the surrender of 
Pondicherry in January, 1761, the power of the French in 
India came to an end. 

The causes for the defeat of France are not far to seek. 
The French people showed little inclination to emigrate, and 
the settlements in America were rather military and trading 
posts than true colonies. Moreover England's control of the 
sea gave her the final advantage everywhere. And, above all 
else, France was attempting too much. Not even her splendid 
resources were equal to the double task of building up a great 
state on the Continent and a great empire abroad. 

Whigs and Tories in 1760. — In the autumn of 1760 
George II died. The accession of George III marks an 
epoch in the development of English parties. For more 
than forty years the Whigs had been in control. Long ten- 
ure of power had brought the usual results, corruption and 
neglect of public interest. Politics had come to mean little 
more than a greedy scramble for office. The Whigs had 



Fall of Pitt 397 

done a great work in defending the national faith and politi- 
cal freedom against the house of Stuart. Under their rule 
persecution had stopped, justice had been administered, the 
supremacy of Parliament had been established ; but they 
had ceased to be a party of progress. Demands for reform 
met with no response ; the needs of the country were lost 
sight of in the interests of a few great Whig families. 

Just at the moment when the country was growing weary The new 
of Whig rule, the Tories, after years of political insignifi- Toryism, 
cance, reappeared, organized on a new basis, inspired by 
different principles. So long as Toryism meant Jacobitism, 
its revival was out of the question ; the nation was too 
strongly Protestant and Hanoverian to favor a Stuart restora- 
tion. But Jacobitism came to an end in 1745. The writ- 
ings of Bolingbroke, the greatest of the Tory thinkers, 
furnished the basis of a purified, reorganized party. Under 
his inspiration the Tories were brought to accept the prin- 
ciples of the Revolution, and to support the Hanoverian 
rule while holding fast to the idea of authority as opposed 
to the Whig principle of liberty. 

George III (1760-1820) and the Government. — Unlike Bright, in, 
his predecessors of the house of Hanover, George III was io 35. 1036. 
deeply attached to England and gloried in being an Eng- Green, 
lishman. He was honest and well-meaning and anxious to 728-730. 
do his duty, but he was narrow-minded and stubborn, and had 
been badly educated. He had been trained by his mother 
in the spirit of Bolingbroke's Patriot King. His ideal was a 
strong monarch governing by his own will, but in the inter- 
est of the whole nation. He came to the throne with a 
carefully considered plan for overthrowing the Whig clique 
and ruling through ministers of his own choice. Parties, he 
maintained, were at an end, and he purposed to act, not as 
a party leader, but as the head of the whole nation. In this 
he was likely to have the support of the people, to whom 
party government meant simply the domination of a few 
families ruling in their own interest. 

Fall of Pitt. — The king spent the first ten years of his 



398 The Struggle for Empire 

Bright, ill, reign in efforts to establish this policy. By the lavish use of 
1037-1041. money and favor he succeeded in forming a party, known as 
Green, the King's Friends, whose guiding political principle was to 

73°-73 2 - vote according to the royal bidding. The first blow was 

struck at the war and Pitt. Pitt was bent on destroying 
the commercial power of France, and urged an immediate 
attack upon Spain, still a great colonial power and bound to 
France by the Family Compact. The king refused to sup- 
port this policy, and in 1761 Pitt resigned. Newcastle was 
soon driven from office, and in 1762 Lord Bute, a favorite 
of the king, became chief minister. Already, however, Eng- 
Warwith land had been forced into war with Spain. The English 
Spain. were everywhere successful, and obtained control of the 

French West Indies, and of Cuba and the Philippines, im- 
portant colonial possessions of Spain. But Bute was bent 
on ending the war as soon as possible, and in 1763 the 
peace of Paris was concluded. Although England did not 
obtain all that her successes warranted, her supremacy in 
America, in India, and on the sea was secured. On the 
other hand, Frederick of Prussia, England's ally, felt that his 
interests had been sacrificed, and from this time on he op- 
posed the English on every occasion. A few weeks after the 
conclusion of the peace Bute resigned, unwilling to face the 
general dissatisfaction with his administration. 

Divisions among the Whigs. — The king's success in his 
first conflict with the Whigs was due to divisions in the 
party. On the one hand was the main body of the Whigs 
led by the Marquis of Rockingham. They inherited the 
traditions and much of the parliamentary influence of the 
great Revolutionary families. Their sympathies were aristo- 
cratic and they were hostile to progress. Opposed to the 
official Whigs were Pitt and his following, popular in ten- 
dency and bent on reform. Other groups of so-called 
Whigs were the followers of Grenville and of Bedford. 
They were controlled chiefly by personal interest, and had 
none of the popular sympathies of Pitt's party. Before very 
long many of them passed over to the Tories. 



The New Colonial Policy 399 

The strength of the opposition to Bute had shown the king Green, 732, 
that the Whigs were too strong to be ignored, and during 733- 
the next few years he endeavored to carry on the govern- 
ment in cooperation with one or another of the Whig fac- 
tions, while at the same time striving to build up his own 
power. Two great questions agitated the country during 
this period, political reform and the government of the 
American colonies. The Rockingham Whigs and Pitt 
agreed in the main on a conciliatory policy toward America, 
and if they could have united would have been able to con- 
trol the government, but Pitt feared the oligarchical ten- 
dencies of the other faction and steadily held aloof. In 
favor of a repressive policy at home and in America were 
the king and his following and the Grenville faction. 

The Grenville Ministry. — When the king, on the fall of 
Bute, found himself forced to choose a minister from the Bright, ill, 
Whigs, he turned to Grenville, who had separated from the io 43-io48. 
great Whig connection, and was not, like Pitt, disqualified G, ' een - 
by popular and reforming tendencies. Grenville's ministry 
lasted two years, and during that time he succeeded in em- 
broiling Parliament and the nation in political controversies 
and in alienating the American colonies. John Wilkes, a 
member for Aylesbury, had attacked the Bute administra- 
tion in No. 45 of the North Briton, a newspaper of which he 
was editor. Arrested on a general warrant, he was dis- 
charged on the ground of parliamentary privilege. The 
House of Commons, urged on by Grenville and the king, 
voted No. 45 a libel, and expelled Wilkes from the House. Source-Book, 
He became at once a popular hero. The cries of " Wilkes 2 ' 
and Liberty " which resounded through the country testified 
to the growing estrangement of Parliament and the people. 

The New Colonial Policy. — Grenville's next step was 
to stir up rebellion in the colonies. By statesmen of the Green, 
eighteenth century a colony was regarded not as an exten- 73 8 -74°- 
sion of national territory — an opportunity for national ex- 
pansion — but as a piece of property, an estate to be 
exploited in the interest of the country owning it. Spain, 



400 The Struggle for Empire 

Portugal, and Holland treated their foreign possessions as 
mere sources of supply for gold and silver, tropical fruits, 
and spices. England's colonies produced none of these, but 
they might be made a market for home products, and a 
source of raw material for the rising manufactures of the 
mother country. " The only use of American colonies or 
West Indian islands," said Lord Sheffield, " is the monopoly 
of their consumption, and the carriage of their produce." 
In conformity with this doctrine, the English government 
imposed restrictions on colonial trade which were calculated 
to insure its profits to the home country. All exports must 
be sent to England, and all trade must be carried on in 
English or colonial vessels. Colonial industries were dis- 
couraged, the smelting of iron and the exportation of woollen 
goods being actually forbidden. It is true that many of 
these restrictions were not rigorously enforced, and a few 
became practically obsolete through disuse. During the 
Source-Book, ministry of Walpole and Newcastle, the Americans were 
341, 342. j e f t ver y mucn t themselves, and had thriven under neglect. 

This was England's gain, for, as Walpole had contended, 
the prosperity of the colonies meant increased demands for 
English goods. But Grenville was unwilling to let well enough 
alone. He resolved to suppress the smuggling trade at 
which Walpole had connived, and he introduced into Parlia- 
ment measures for taxing the colonies for the support of an 
army which he proposed to maintain in America. There 
was a political side to the new policy. The great successes of 
the late war had stimulated imperialist feeling. People talked 
in a different tone about " our colonies," and many were 
coming to feel that the colonials were too independent, and 
that they ought to be held with a tighter rein. 
The stamp The Stamp Act was passed by Parliament almost without 

ct ' I? s ' debate, but in America it aroused the uncompromising resist- 
ance of the colonists already aggrieved at the enforcement of 
the commercial restrictions. They believed that the power 
to tax could not safely be entrusted to a Parliament over 
which they had no control. As for an army they saw no reason 




Chatham 




6vZfL^ 



The Rule of the King and Lord North 401 

why they should not care for their own defence as they had 
done for the most part in the past. 

The Rockingham Ministry. — Before the consequences of Bright, III, 
the Stamp Act were realized in England, however, the minis- io 5°- io 53- 
try had fallen. Its overthrow was due to the king's personal Green, 735, 
dislike for Grenville. George was now forced to fall back 73<5- 
on the official Whigs, and Lord Rockingham became chief 
minister. During the year that Rockingham was in office he 
strove to remedy the mistakes of his predecessor. The use 
of general warrants was prohibited, and the Stamp Act was 
repealed (1766). 

Rockingham had the support of Edmund Burke, the 
greatest political writer of the day, but he failed in his efforts 
to win over Pitt, and without Pitt no ministry could now 
hope to stand for any length of time. The king preferred 
even Pitt to the official Whigs, and in 1766 he dismissed 
Rockingham and made the Great Commoner chief minister, 
at the same time creating him Earl of Chatham. 

The Chatham-Grafton Ministry. — Before Pitt could carry Bright, III, 
out his plans, domestic and foreign, he became so ill that he io 53- io 59- 
was forced to withdraw from public life. Under Grafton, 
his successor, the policy of the Rockingham ministry was Townshend 
reversed. By the Townshend revenue duties, the effort to duties> x ? 7- 
tax America was renewed under another form, and the gen- 
eral election of 1768 brought up once more the Wilkes case. 
Wilkes was elected in Middlesex. The Commons, urged by 
the king, expelled him from the House. Again and again 
Middlesex returned Wilkes, and each time the Commons 
declared him incapable of sitting in Parliament. A great Middlesex- 
constitutional question was at stake, the right of constituen- ElectIon - 
cies to choose their own representatives. But the king had 
at last succeeded in establishing his control of Parliament, 
and the victory was his. In 1770 George felt himself 
strong enough to appoint as chief minister Lord North, a 
man after his own heart. 

The Rule of the King and Lord North. — During the 
twelve years of the North ministry, George " ruled as well 



402 



The Struggle for Empire 



Bright, III, 
1059, 1060. 

Green, 
739-744- 



Bright, III, 
1062-1064. 

Source-Book. 
35°-359- 



as reigned." The national policy was the king's policy, the 
ministers were his agents, Parliament was his tool. In 
North he had an able and docile servant, and on his side 
was the new Toryism with its devotion to the principle of 
authority. Bribery was carried to lengths unheard of hith- 
erto. Preferment in Church or State was made the reward 
of political service, and loss of office followed refusal to sup- 
port the royal policy. The king did not disdain to make 
use of his direct personal influence to gain his ends. In a 
letter to North he wrote in reference to a recent vote in 
Parliament, " I wish a list could be prepared of those that 
went away and those that deserted to the minority. This 
would be a rule for my conduct in the drawing-room to-mor- 
row." By these means the king commanded a steady ma- 
jority. Royal authority was based on a Parliament which 
was bought and sold. 

The American Question. — The immediate issue before 
the country was the American difficulty. The changing policy 
of the government, alternately coercion and concession, had 
naturally strengthened the colonies in their determination to 
yield nothing. On his side the king was eager to try con- 
clusions with his rebellious subjects across the water, and in 
this policy he had the support of the mass of the English 
people. Commercial interests, Tory love of authority, the 
spirit of imperialism, were all enlisted against the American 
cause. 

Whigs and the Colonies. — To the Opposition, however, 
the struggle in America appeared in a different light. Ex- 
clusion from power was transforming the Whigs into a party 
of reform. Pitt and his following had long called attention 
to the defects of the parliamentary and administrative system, 
but the great mass of the Whigs felt no need of change so 
long as they were in control. Now, however, they realized 
the evils of court influence when used against themselves. 
Their early sympathy with America was increased by the 
conviction that in the resistance of the colonists their own 
interests were at stake ; triumph of the royal policy in 



Progress of tJu War 403 

America meant its firm establishment in England. Accord- 
ingly, under the vigorous leadership of Chatham, Burke, 
and Charles James Fox, they made the cause of the revolted 
colonies their own, at the same time giving steady support to 
every demand for reform. 

Outbreak of the War in America. — The American situation 
grew steadily worse. Virginia and Massachusetts, a South- 
ern and a Northern colony, led in resisting the royal policy. 
In 1774 a representative congress met in Philadelphia. Bright, in, 
Henceforth there would be united action. As yet, however, io 95. Ic 96, 
the demand was simply for redress of grievances, but it was 
plain that fighting could not long be deferred. The spring of ,ree ^ 739- 
1775 saw the first shedding of blood at Lexington. Afewweeks 
later George Washington, a Virginian gentleman of some mil- 
itary experience, took command of the colonial forces. The 
American cause had now a worthy leader. At the outset 
England did not take the war very seriously, for she despised 
the colonials. British officers declared in Parliament that 
with one regiment they could sweep the country. As late 
as 1774 the army, already small, was still further reduced. 
The result was that the government was hard put to raise 
the needed troops, and sought recruits in various quarters. 
At length a bargain was made with German princes for the 
sale of their subjects, and some 20,000 Germans, many of 
them criminals, were shipped to America to help the king 
subdue his own subjects. 

Progress of the War. — Reconciliation was no longer 
possible, and in 1776 Congress issued the Declaration of 
Independence. During the next five years the war contin- 
ued with varying fortune. England was handicapped by 
her own unpreparedness, by her lack of good generals, and 
by the three thousand miles that lay between her and her 
rebellious subjects. But on the other hand the population 
of Great Britain was 8,000,000, that of the new United 
States less than 2,000,000, and the disparity of resources 
was even more marked. Moreover, although in England 
there was an increasingly large party opposed to the war, 



404 



The Struggle for Empire 



Bright, III, 
1082, 1083, 
109 1, 1092. 



Dunning's 

resolution. 

Source-Book, 
308-313. 



in America at least one-third of the people were steadily 
loyal to the British connection. It was the hostility of 
Europe that turned the scale against the English. They 
were now paying the price of past success. Jealousy of 
England was one of the controlling forces in European 
politics after the peace of Paris. The Declaration of 
Independence was followed by offers of aid from France, 
burning to avenge her recent defeat. In 1777 the Brit- 
ish under General Burgoyne met with disastrous defeat at 
Saratoga. A few weeks later a defensive alliance was con- 
cluded between the French and the Americans. By 1780 
Spain and Holland had also declared war, and, under the 
leadership of Catherine of Russia the northern nations had 
banded together in an armed neutrality to resist the 
commercial claims of the English. Great Britain's isola- 
tion in Europe was complete. 

Failure of the Royal Policy. — For a time the Whigs 
could make but little headway against the general approval 
of the war and the apathy of the masses. But failure in 
America and the heavy burden of taxation changed the 
current of feeling. Moreover, the resistance of the colo- 
nists had not been without effect in arousing Englishmen 
to the evils of their own system of government. By 1779 
the reform movement had assumed formidable dimen- 
sions. Great meetings were held throughout the country 
with the intention of bringing public opinion to bear on 
Parliament. Petitions demanding reform in the govern- 
ment and signed by thousands were presented in the 
House. In 1780 Burke introduced a great' measure for 
economic reform of the administration, which was followed 
by bills to deprive revenue officers of their votes and to 
exclude contractors from the House of Commons. The 
Duke of Richmond brought in a motion for parliamentary 
reform, demanding annual Parliaments, universal suffrage, 
and equal electoral districts. Finally a startling resolution 
introduced by Dunning to the effect " that the influence 
of the crown was increased, is increasing, and ought to be 



The Coalition 405 

diminished," was carried against the government by a 
majority of eighteen. 

In America matters grew steadily worse. The surrender Bright, III, 
of Cornwallis at Yorktown, in 1781, dealt a fatal blow to the iio 3- iio 7- 
royal policy. Under the combined pressure of defeat in Green - 
America and demand for reform at home, the king was 
forced to give way. Lord North resigned (1782) and the 
Whigs returned to power under Rockingham. Government 
by agents of the king came to an end, and the cabinet 
system was reestablished. 

The Whigs in Power. — The Whigs, first under Rocking- 
ham, and after his death under Lord Shelburne, carried 
through some important measures. They granted Ireland's 
demand for legislative independence, and under the lead- 
ership of Burke secured some of the economic reforms 
brought forward during the North administration. Govern- 
ment contractors were excluded from the House of Com- 
mons, revenue officers were disfranchised, and the secret 
service money and pension list were cut down. The min- 
istry refused, however, to take up the question of parlia- 
mentary reform. The object of the Whigs was in fact 
rather to limit the power of the crown than to make Par- 
liament more truly representative of the nation. 

The chief work of the Shelburne ministry was to conclude Treaty of 
the peace negotiations with America. By the treaty of Ver- VersalUes - 
sailles (1783), that closed the war, England was forced to 
recognize the independence of the American colonies. To 
Spain she gave back Minorca and Florida, to France most 
of hec settlements and colonies in India and Africa and the 
West Indies. The failure of the French and Spanish to 
capture Gibraltar and the destruction of the French fleet 
by Rodney off Dominica were all that saved her colonial 
empire from annihilation. Friends and foes alike believed 
with Lord Shelburne that England's sun had set. 

The Coalition. — In 1 783 the Shelburne ministry was 
overthrown by an astonishing combination of Lord North with 
Fox, the leader of the progressive wing of the Whigs. In 



Ill, 

"3. 

'34- 



4°6 The Struggle for Empire 

spite of its great parliamentary strength, this coalition ministry 
lasted only a few months. Popular indignation was aroused 
at an alliance formed apparently for the sole purpose of 
securing power. The India Bill proposed by Fox for the 
reform of the East Indian government aroused much dis- 
satisfaction. The king, always hostile to Fox, and now 
alienated from North, led the attack upon the coalition, and, 
regardless of the fact that it had the support of the House of 
Commons, turned it out and called upon William Pitt, a son 
of the Great Commoner, to form a new ministry. A tremen- 
dous struggle ensued. It was the king, Pitt, and the nation 
against the coalition and Parliament. On one vote after an- 
other Pitt was defeated, but he maintained his place, declar- 
ing with truth that Parliament did not represent the nation. 
In March, 1784, the contest ended in the triumph of Pitt. 
Factious dissensions and indifference to reform had weak- 
ened the Whig party, the coalition ruined it. Save for a 
short time in 1806 the Whigs remained out of power until 
1830. 

The Early Years of Pitt's Ministry. — William Pitt 

was barely twenty-five when he was called to take charge of 

SJ?!"." 1, the g° vernment > but he had already made his mark in the 

country. He had none of the fiery eloquence of his father, 



1134-1139. 



Gre ' n ' but his tact and 



753 



sagacity were unerring. Although his 



triumph was due to the support of the king, this did not 
imply a return to the system that had prevailed during the 
North ministry. So long as Pitt remained in power, the 
conduct of the affairs was under his control. He was truly 
Prime Minister, with absolute authority over a united Cabinet. 
The king might chafe at his lack of power, but he knew his 
choice lay between Pitt and the Whig leaders, and he gave 
undivided support to Pitt. 

The young minister had entered public life a Whig, his 
tendencies were liberal, and he should have received the 
support of the progressive Whigs. Lacking this, he leaned 
more and more upon the new Tory party. Insensibly, his 
views were modified by his relations with the king and by 



INDIA, SHOWING ROUGHLY THE GROWTH OF THE BRITISH POWER 

English Possessions } .' A L T Dder English Protection 1 . . . .1 




80RMAY * C0.,EN3R'S,I 



Growth of the Indian Dominion 



407 



his party associations. He still supported reform, and in 
1785 proposed a reform bill, but the measure was not 
thoroughgoing, since it recognized the right of property in a 
seat in the House of Commons. It was defeated, for the 
demand for reform was subsiding, there was little popular 
interest in the movement, and the Whigs were too divided 
and too badly led to seize upon the only chance of revival, 
reorganization as a reform party. 

Pitt's especial ability lay in finance. He struck at smug- 
gling by lowering the customs. The falling off in reve- Financial 
nue he made good through an excise. Careful manage- reform - 
ment turned the deficit into a surplus which was appliedto 
paying off the national debt. In 1786 Pitt won a great 
triumph over the commercial theories and national prejudices 
of his generation by carrying through a commercial treaty 
with France which practically established free trade between 
the two countries. He also attempted, although without 
success, to give to Ireland the commercial freedom which 
Irish industries so much needed. 

Growth of the Indian Dominion.— After 1760 the 
power of the English in India grew rapidly at the expense Bri s ht . HI, 
of the native princes. There were frequent outbreaks, due II20 ~ II2 3- 
partly to the aggressions of the English Company, and partly 
to the continued intrigues of the French. England's wars 
in Europe and America had their invariable accompaniment 
of conflict in the East. In India the English were almost 
uniformly successful. In their dealings with the natives they 
were skilful and often unscrupulous, and they had the sup- 
port of a large sepoy force created in imitation of the policy 
of Dupleix. In 1 765 the Company formally took over the 
government of Bengal, thus becoming in name as well as in 
fact princes of India. 

Step by step the English advanced until, at the close of 
the Mahratta war in 1805, the Company controlled, directly 
or indirectly, a large part of the Indian peninsula and 
immense provinces in the interior. The movement, which 
began in 1748 with the creation of a small sepoy force to 



408 The Struggle for Empire 

protect the trading interests of the East India Company, 
had resulted in the establishment of a great empire. 

Control by Parliament. — Already, however, many im- 
portant changes in the relations of India and England had 
taken place. The anomaly of a trading company exercising 
sovereign rights over extensive territories and millions of 
people could not fail to excite attention. Serious misman- 
agement of the company's affairs gave Parliament a chance 
to interfere. Upon the report of an investigating committee, 
Lord North formed the Regulating Act of 1773. The Com- 
pany received a loan for which it had applied, and in ad- 
dition the concession of exporting its bonded tea to 
America without paying duty. On the other hand, parlia- 
mentary control was increased by the appointment by 
Parliament of a council and governor-general to carry on 
the government of India. 

Still the old evils continued. The Company cared for 
dividends and was indifferent to the welfare of the subject 
people. Officials were poorly paid, and sought to enrich 
Green, 745- themselves by plundering the natives. Warren Hastings, 
74 8 - 75 2 . 753' the first governor-general, was able and energetic, and he 
did much to strengthen the foundations of English control, 
but his methods were sometimes unscrupulous. In 1784 
Pitt carried a bill establishing a dual system of control over 
India. All business and all patronage, with a few important 
exceptions, were left in the hands of the Company and the 
government was still in its name, but the whole political 
authority was transferred to a new ministerial department, 
the Board of Control. 

The Impeachment of Hastings. — In 17 85 Warren Hast- 
ings returned to England, and was at once attacked in 
Parliament and impeached for acts of tyranny committed in 
India. His trial, made famous through the eloquence of 
Burke and Sheridan, dragged on until 1795, and in the end 
Hastings was acquitted, but his policy as well as his methods 
had already been superseded. The government's interfer- 
ence in Indian affairs and the calling of Hastings to account 



Pitt's India 
Bill. 



The French Revolution and Political Reaction 



409 



testify to a growing sense of responsibility for the welfare of 
the subject population in India. In 1 786 Lord Cornwallis 
was sent out as governor-general. He remained in power 
until 1798, and through his efforts the administration was 
thoroughly reformed. 

The New Colonial Policy. — After the loss of the American 
colonies there remained to England, besides the Indian 
dependency, only Canada and Nova Scotia, some of the 
West Indies, Gibraltar, and a few places off the coast of 
Africa. Almost at once, however, she began to build up a 
new empire by planting penal settlements on the south- 
eastern coast of Australia, a continent as yet unclaimed by 
any European power. Out of these untoward beginnings 
developed in the next century a progressive Anglo-Saxon 
commonwealth. 

The chief lesson that England drew from the American 
Revolution was that too much political independence ought 
not to be granted to colonies, and for the next generation a 
tight hand was kept on the colonial governments. At the 
same time, however, commercial restrictions were gradually 
relaxed. Nor was the attempt to tax ever repeated. 

The French Revolution and Political Reaction. — All things 
pointed to a period of cautious reform, when, in 1789, the Green, 
country was startled by the outbreak of the French Revolu- 758-770. 
tion. Public opinion was at first divided. To the timid Bri s ht . in, 
and conservative, the rising of the French people meant the "f' "f 4, 

, r 1 1160-1162. 

complete overthrow of the established order, the beginning 
of anarchy; but by many progressive Englishmen it was 
hailed with enthusiasm. The excesses of the Reign of 
Terror determined the current of popular feeling. The 
hostility of the French was directed against the crown and 
the privileged classes. In England, as a result, the Tories, 
the party of authority, the king's party, became the cham- 
pions of vested interests. The clergy, the aristocracy, the 
wealthy middle classes rallied round the king in defence of 
privilege and property. Burke, once the advocate of politi- 
cal progress, became now the mouthpiece of reaction. His 



4io 



The Struggle for Empire 



Burke and 
the Revo- 
lution. 

Source-Book, 
363-370. 



Bright, III, 
1177-1181. 



Reflections on the French Revolutioii was the manifesto of 
a crusade against democracy. The propagandist attitude 
of the French revolutionists aroused a panic of alarm in 
England which Pitt strove in vain to stem. At last he gave 
way before the demand of the king and the nation for war, 
and joined hands with the monarchs of Europe in an attack 
upon the French Republic. 

The French Revolution and the war that followed dealt 
the cause of progress a fatal blow. Pitt turned his back ' 
forever on his plans for financial and political reform. 
Henceforth all his energies were absorbed in the conflict 
with France. In the outset the war was a crusade against 
democratic opinion, and it meant the establishment of Tory 
ascendency. Reactionary views and arbitrary methods pre- 
vailed in the government. Wild fears of a revolutionary 
rising led to the adoption of a policy of repression. The 
Habeas Corpus Act was suspended from 1794 to 1801, new 
treasons were created, the liberty of public meeting was re- 
stricted, numerous prosecutions of the press were instituted, 
and men were found guilty of sedition and harshly punished 
for advocating measures which Pitt had himself proposed a 
few years before. A poor bill-sticker was imprisoned for 
six months for posting up an address asking for parliamen- 
tary reform, and a clergyman, named Palmer, was sentenced 
to seven years' transportation for circulating a paper in 
favor of the same measure. 

Break-up of the Whig Party. — In this repressive policy, 
the government had the steady support of Parliament and 
the country. Fear of revolution had brought about a revul- 
sion of feeling. In 1 794 the great bulk of the Whigs went 
over to Pitt. The Opposition, led by Fox, dwindled to a 
mere handful, too weak to impose any check upon the 
arbitrary policy of the government. It became, however, 
what it bad never been before, a party of popular reform. 
In 1792, in 1793, and again in 1797, motions for the reform 
of Parliament were introduced by Grey. They could 
scarcely obtain a hearing, and were thrown out by large 



16 10 



6 10 15 20 25 




10 Longitude East 16 



The War zvitJi France 



411 



majorities. The prospect of reform, so bright in 1 780, seemed, 
twenty years later, hopelessly deferred. More than a century 
had elapsed since the overthrow of the Stuart despotism, 
but England had apparently made no advance toward popu- 
lar government. In reality much had been gained. In the 
organization of political parties and in the development of 
the Cabinet, governmental forms had been established well 
fitted to give effect to the will of the people, and to make 
democracy possible. 

The "War with France. — The war lasted from 1793 t0 Green, 
1802. In the beginning Spain, Holland, Austria, and Prussia 767-772. 
were united with England against France. Notwithstanding 
these odds, the French not only repelled invasion, but 
carried the war across the border into the enemy's coun- 
try. The Republican armies, fired with zeal and patriotism 
and led by Napoleon Bonaparte, the greatest military genius Bonaparte, 
of the age, were irresistible. On land England accomplished 
nothing. Her armies were badly made up and badly led, 
and the subsidies which she lavished on the petty German 
states brought little return. On the seas, however, the 
English were almost uniformly successful. English suprem- 
acy in the Mediterranean was soon established, the French 
Atlantic fleet was defeited by Lord Howe, and the French 
settlements in India and some of the West Indian islands 
passed into the possession of England. 

In 1795 tne coalition began to give way before the victo- Break-up of 
ries of the French. Most of the continental states con- the Coalition, 
eluded treaties with the Republic. England, however, still 
continued on the offensive. For a time (in the year 1797) 
her situation seemed desperate. She stood alone, threat- 
ened with invasion from France, menaced With rebellion in 
Ireland, the fleet paralyzed by a widespread mutiny. But 
the crisis was met with determination and success. The 
attempted invasion ended in failure, and before the year 
was out, by the destruction of the Spanish and Dutch fleets, 
in the battles of Cape Vincent and Camperdown, England 
had lessened the danger of attack. The interest of the next 



412 



The Struggle for Empire 



Battle of 
the Nile. 



The Second 
Coalition. 



Oman, 
England in 
the Nine- 
teenth Cen- 
tury, Ch. I. 



Green, 

pp. 772-776. 

777-779- 



year centred in Egypt, whither Bonaparte had gone in the 
belief that the occupation of Egypt would open the way to 
the restoration of the French domination in India. Nelson's 
victory at the battle of the Nile (1798), by severing the con- 
nection between France and the French forces in Egypt, 
placed insuperable difficulties in the way of this scheme, 
and in 1799 it was abandoned. 

On land, however, Bonaparte, now at the head of the 
French government, swept all before him. A second coali- 
tion with Austria and Russia, laboriously built up by Pitt in 
1799, fell to pieces within the year. Austria maintained 
the struggle until i8oi,when she was forced to sign the 
treaty of Luneville, which left France supreme on the Con- 
tinent. In the East and on the sea, England's success was 
still unbroken. Southern India fell before Wellesley, the 
French were defeated at Alexandria, and Nelson's victory at 
Copenhagen (1801) dealt a fatal blow to the alliance of 
Sweden, Denmark, and Russia which had threatened Eng- 
land's commercial supremacy. But England needed peace, 
she stood alone in Europe, her debt was enormous, taxation 
was heavy. Bonaparte was ready to come to terms, and in 
1802 the peace of Amiens was concluded. " It was a 
peace," so Sheridan of the Opposition declared, " which 
everybody would be glad of, but which nobody would be 
proud of. " In spite of the fact that England gave back 
all her conquests except Ceylon and Trinidad, the peace 
was greeted with joy throughout the country. 

The Union of England and Ireland. — Before the negotia- 
tions for the peace of Amiens were begun, Pitt had with- 
drawn from the ministry because of the king's refusal to 
agree to the emancipation of the Irish Catholics. 

The surrender of Limerick in 1691 (p. 365) was followed 
by the establishment of Protestant ascendency in Ireland. 
Many of the Catholic leaders went into exile or were ruined 
by confiscations, and the bulk of the army entered foreign 
service. The fate of the Catholic people, three-fourths of the 
population of Ireland, was in the hands of the Irish Parlia- 



The Union of England and Inland 413 

ment, which represented simply the small intolerant Protes- 
tant minority. In spite of the pledges of Limerick, crushing 
penal laws were enacted against the Catholics. Their worship Laws against 
was practically proscribed, they were disfranchised, they were tn eCathohcs. 
excluded from the professions, from Parliament, from munici- 
pal office. The law thrust itself between a Catholic father 
and his children, a Catholic's right to hold land was restricted, 
he was forbidden to own a horse worth more than ^5. 

The Irish Parliament made the position of the Catholics 
almost intolerable, the English Parliament spared neither 
Catholic nor Protestant. The Cromwellian Settlement had 
added a vigorous and intelligent element to the popula- 
tion, and after the Restoration there was a beginning of 
prosperity in Ireland. The land was chiefly pasture, and the 
importation of cattle into England became an important 
source of wealth ; but the English landowners took alarm, Destruction 
and laws were passed excluding from England Irish cattle ? f lTlsh 
and sheep, meat and butter and cheese. Ireland had 
certain commercial advantages in her good harbors and 
proximity to America, but as soon as she showed signs of 
turning these to profit she was cut off almost entirely from 
the colonial trade. As Swift said, Ireland's fine ports were 
of no more use to her than " a beautiful prospect to a man 
shut up in a dungeon." Forbidden to send their sheep to 
England, the Irish landowners turned to wool-growing, and 
the woollen manufacture began to develop; but in 1699 
English manufacturers, fearing the rivalry of Ireland, induced 
Parliament to pass a law prohibiting the export of Irish 
woollens to any country whatever. The subordination of 
Irish to English interests was complete. Cut off in every 
direction, industry died out, and the energies of the Irish 
people were thrown back upon the land. 

Crushed and strangled, for over fifty years Ireland did not Bright, in, 
stir, but about the middle of the eighteenth century a move- io 9°- iio 5- 

r 1 ■ 1 • • -i 1 1 it. II06, 1136, 

ment for legislative independence began among the Protes- II99 _ I2I n 
tants. During the American Revolution, it gained such 1229. 
strength that under the Rockingham ministry of 1782 the 



414 



The Struggle for Empire 



Irish legis- 
lative inde- 
pendence. 



Act of Union, 
1800. 



Green, 
819-822. 



Oman, 
Ch. II. 



Bright, III, 
1237-1241. 



independence of the Irish Parliament was secured. The 
result was disappointing, in part because Pitt failed in his 
attempt to establish complete free trade between England 
and Ireland, and in part because the Irish Parliament was 
still the Parliament of the Protestant minority. Although 
some relief had been given to the Catholics, there were but 
few Protestants as yet who agreed with Grattaii in thinking 
that " the Irish Protestant could never be free till the Irish 
Catholic had ceased to be a slave." The general discontent 
found expression in formidable organizations. In 1798 an 
insurrection broke out among the peasants of Wexford and 
other places. Twice the French took advantage of the pre- 
vailing disorder, and attempted an invasion of Ireland. At 
last Pitt was convinced that the safety of England required 
that the two countries should be united, and in 1800 the Act 
of Union was carried through, although opposed, in the words 
of Lecky, by the " whole unbribed intellect of Ireland." 
Free trade with England and representation in the British 
Parliament were secured to the Irish. An essential part of 
the plan was frustrated, however, by the king's refusal to 
grant the relief to the Catholics that Pitt had given them to 
understand would follow union. 

Napoleonic Wars. — The war with France was renewed 
within thirteen months after the signing of the treaty of 
Amiens. The grounds of contention were changed. Hence- 
forth England fought, not to restore the deposed Bourbons, 
but to check the aggressions of an upstart prince. Napoleon 
Bonaparte, who had negotiated the peace of 1802 as chief 
of the French Republic, was elected consul for life in 1802, 
and emperor in 1804. Europe watched his advancement 
with apprehension. There was reason to believe that his 
ambition was not limited to France, that he aimed to found 
an empire comparable to that of Charlemagne. Certain 
high-handed dealings with the Swiss and Italian states 
menaced the balance of power and gave umbrage to the 
courts of Europe. England was affronted by Napoleon's 
pretensions to Malta, her recent acquisition in the Mediter- 



The Continental System 415 

ranean, and by his demand that the fugitive Bourbons be 
denied asylum under the British flag. Addington under- 
took to negotiate with the overbearing conqueror, but was 
forced by the rising wrath of the nation to declare war 
(1803). The emperor caught up the gauntlet with eager- 
ness and prepared for a decisive struggle with the hereditary 
foe of France. A great army was gathered at Boulogne, 
thousands of transports were provided, and everything made 
ready for a swift descent On England. " The Channel is 
but a ditch," said he; "any one can cross it who has but 
courage to try." He had not learned the lesson of history. 
For two years he watched his chance for the crossing, but 
the water bulwarks of the island kingdom proved an insu- 
perable obstacle. 

No such peril had threatened England since the Armada, 
and the best energies of the nation were rallied to the de- 
fence. The enlistment of three hundred and fifty thousand 
volunteers brought the military defence of the kingdom up 
to a figure never before or since attained. Watch towers 
were built along the southern coast, and a formidable fleet 
guarded the Channel. Napoleon had given orders to the 
French admiral to decoy Nelson's squadron to the West 
Indies, and then swiftly return to protect the vessels engaged 
in transporting the army of invasion, but Nelson was not so 
easily outwitted. He recrossed the Atlantic in advance of 
the French fleet, and in time to prevent the embarkation. Trafalgar, 
In the battle of Trafalgar (1805) the navy of France was l8 °5- 
cut to pieces, and Napoleon was obliged to abandon his 
cherished purpose of subjugating England. 

The Continental System. — Foiled in this enterprise, the 
emperor hit upon a new device for destroying his great Bl . icrht IITi 
antagonist. He had, by 1806, succeeded in reducing the 1247-1253, 
principal European states to the position of dependents or I26 °- I26 5- 
servile allies, and the coast of the Continent from the Baltic Oman, 
to the Adriatic was under his control. He thus had it in Ch - 1IL 
his power to regulate the commercial relations of all impor- Berin 
tant European ports. The Berlin Decree, issued in 1806, Decree, 1806. 



41 6 The Struggle for Empire 

forbade the subjects of France or of any allied power to 
trade with England or with England's colonies. Thus 
British vessels were excluded from all the harbors of Europe 
except those of Sicily, Sardinia, Sweden, Portugal, and 
Bright, in, Turkey. The blow was cunningly aimed at the very source 

1277. 1278. f E n gi an( i' s strength. Her merchants had secured the 
major part of the carrying trade between Europe, America, 
and the Orient. Her manufacturers were making goods in 
excess of domestic demand, and relied upon the European 
market to absorb the surplus. The wealth producers of the 
realm were threatened with ruin. 

Bright in The Orders in Council. — England had no recourse but 

1278.1279. retaliation. The Order in Council, issued in 1807, forbade 
all trade with France or her subject-allies. Vessels, neutral 
or otherwise, entering the blockaded ports, did so at the risk 
of capture and confiscation. This was no empty threat, for 
English battleships guarded every important coast town, 
lying in wait for prizes. In the end the Continental System 
worked more harm to Napoleon than to England. British 
merchant vessels ran no risk of seizure, and found profitable 
employment in smuggling goods into the forbidden markets. 
The contraband imports sold at trebled prices. This was a 
heavy tax to pay for the imperial regime, and men protested 
against the meaningless sacrifice. The Continental System 
had much to do with the final revolt against Napoleon. 

The Peninsular War (1808-1814).— When, at last, Eng- 
land came face to face with her great antagonist, it was 
not on English nor yet on French soil, but in Spain. 
The revolt of the Spanish people against the Bonaparte 
king imposed upon them by Napoleon, gave England the 
long-sought opportunity to get a foothold on the Continent. 
Men and money were poured into the Peninsula, and for six 
years an English army under Wellington fought for the 
independence of Spain. The emperor recognized that the 
situation was critical, and devoted the best of his troops to 
the reconquest of the country, but to no avail. The French 
were expelled from Madrid (1812), and forced to retreat 



War 



417 



northward, losing fortress after fortress, until they were 
driven beyond the Pyrenees. In the spring of 18 14, Well- Bright, III, 
ington's army appeared in southern France, ready to join I28 7~ I 3 21 - 
the forces sent by Russia, Prussia, and Austria for the last 
bout with Napoleon. In the battle of Waterloo, which com- 
pleted the ruin of the emperor, Wellington and the veterans Waterloo, 
of the Peninsular War bore a leading part. l8l 5- 

Results of the Napoleonic Wars. — Territorially Eng- Source-Book, 
land gained little from this long and costly war, but her 375 ~ 379- 
acquisitions were such as to be of great advantage to com- 
merce. Malta and the Ionian Islands were strategic points 
in the Mediterranean. Mauritius gave a new coaling Treaty of 
station in the Indian Ocean, while the Dutch settlements Vienna . l8l 5 
at the Cape of Good Hope and West Guiana made impor- 
tant additions to the list of English colonies. 

Far more notable than these territorial winnings was the 
maritime ascendency attained by England's navy and the 
advance in political prestige due to the important services 
rendered by her generals and diplomatists. The great fleet 
of France and Spain had been destroyed at Trafalgar, and 
there was no other in Europe that dared to dispute British 
supremacy. English merchantmen enjoyed an unquestioned 
monopoly of European trade. Their only rivals, the Amer- 
ican ship-masters, had been well-nigh ruined by the com- 
mercial legislation arising out of the Napoleonic wars. 

American War (1812-1815). — During the closing years 
of the great continental struggle, England was involved in a 
secondary war not so glorious by half. The restrictions 
imposed on neutral trade had worked havoc with the com- 
merce of the United States. The outraged Yankees imputed 
the whole blame to England, because American vessels were 
continually challenged for contravening the Orders in Coun- 
cil, while Napoleon had no means of enforcing his no less 
obnoxious decrees. A further grievance against England 
was her assumption of the right to impress into the king's 
service English seamen wherever found. Thousands of 
British-born sailors had made their way to America, and, 

2E 



41 8 The Straggle for Empire 

after becoming naturalized citizens of the United States, 
had enlisted in the navy or found employment on merchant 
vessels. The men were sorely needed to man English war- 
ships, and in accordance with the then accepted doctrine 
of inalienable allegiance — "Once an Englishman always an 
Englishman " — British naval commanders were authorized 
to overhaul American vessels in search of renegades. The 
practice was bitterly protested on this side the Atlantic, and 
in 1812 Congress was driven to declare war against the 
mother country. England was preoccupied in the contest 
with Napoleon, and sent an inadequate force to meet the 
new antagonist. The Yankees were not unworthy their 
inheritance, and soon proved adepts at sea-fighting. To 
their lasting chagrin, Englishmen saw themselves beaten on 
their own element. The treaty of Ghent was primarily a 
treaty for peace. No mention was made of the grounds of 
contention, the right of search and the privileges of neutral 
trade, but America won her point in that the prerogatives 
then protested have never been reasserted by the English 
government. 



Important Events in the History of the British Empire 

1497-1498. Cabot voyages. 

1588. Defeat of Spanish Armada. 

1600. Establishment of the East India Company. 

1607. Beginning of permanent settlements in America. 

1620- 1640. Settlement of New England. 

1 65 1. Navigation Act. 

1652. -j 

1665. I War with Holland. 

1672. J 

1657. Capture of Jamaica. 

1667. Seizure of Dutch Settlements in America. 

1689-1815. Contest between France and England. 

1713. Peace of Utrecht. England's maritime supremacy. 

1744. Rivalry of French and English in India. 

1757. Plassey. England and the native power. 



Important Events 419 

1763. Peace of Paris. Overthrow of French power in America 

and India. 
1765. Stamp Act. 

1783. Independence of American Colonies. 

1784. Pitt's India Bill. 

1787. Beginning of Australian Colonization. 
1793. War with France. 
1805. Trafalgar. 

1815. Treaty of Vienna. Territorial conquests in the East and 
in South Africa. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE GROWTH OF DEMOCRACY 
Books for Consultation 

Sources 

Smith, Life and Speeches of John Bright. 

Macaulay, Speeches. 

Gladstone, Speeches. 

Adams, Representative British Orations. 

Special Authorities 

McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, Sir Robert Peel. 

Gammage, History of the Chartist Movement. 

Morley, Cobden, Gladstone. 

May, Constitutional History of England. 

Political History of England, Vols. XI, XII. 

Whates, The Third Salisbury Administration, 1S95-1900. 

Dicey, England's Case against Home Rule. 

Dunraven, The Outlook in Ireland. 

Imaginative Literature 

Banks, The Manchester Man. 

Mulock, John Halifax, Gentleman. 

Kingsley, Alton Locke. 

Disraeli, Coningsby. 

Tennyson, Locksley Hall, Locksley Hall Seventy Years After. 

The Reform Movement. — The first effect produced on 
English thought by the French Revolution had. been a strong 
aversion to the political doctrine that could give birth to 
such horrors. A wave of reaction passed over the country, 
discrediting progressive statesmen and sweeping all reform 
projects into oblivion. But England could not long remain 
420 



The Reform Movement 



421 



ignorant of the lasting significance of that tremendous revolt 
against arbitrary government. France was indeed conquered 
in 1815 and the Bourbons restored, but the great achieve- 
ments of the Revolution were not undone. Just laws and a 
liberal constitution were secured to the French people by 
the very monarchs who had undertaken the crusade in 
behalf of Louis XVI. 

During the twenty years of war, the cause of English 
liberty had lost much and gained nothing. Absorbed in 
the long struggle with Napoleon, the Tory ministers had 
given little thought to the national well-being. Enthusiasm 
for the war, pride in its triumphant conclusion and in the 
commercial prestige acquired by England, together with the 
prosperity accruing to trade and manufactures from the ex- 
traordinary war market for iron and cloth, had blinded men's 
eyes to the heavy cost of the conflict. Peace once declared, 
the nation began to balance accounts. The national debt 
amounted to ^861,000,000. The financial pressure was 
such that the Bank of England suspended specie payment 
(1797), and for twenty-two years the country had to be 
content with a depreciating paper currency. The conse- 
quent rise in prices was exaggerated by the hazards of trade 
with the Continent and by a series of bad harvests which 
brought food up to famine rates. In the last years of the 
war, the price of wheat rose to 1715-. a quarter. Neverthe- 
less, the Corn Law of 1815, which prohibited the importation 
of grain until the price should reach 80s. a quarter, was 
vigorously maintained by the landlord class, who secured the 
lion's share of the profits of this protective legislation. The 
prosperity of the landlord and the farmer was not shared 
by the agricultural laborer, who, during these years of ex- 
traordinary prices, was steadily sinking into misery and 
want. Wages could not cover the cost of subsistence and 
had to be supplemented from the poor rates. Peace dealt 
a severe blow to the manufactures that had flourished on the 
war market, and operatives were thrown out of employment. 
Discharged soldiers to the number of two hundred and fifty 



Oman, 

England in 
the Nine- 
teenth 
Century, 
S3- 62 - 



422 



The Growth of Democracy 



Browning, 
The Lost 
Leader. 



thousand sought self-supporting trades. Many drifted into 
the ranks of the unemployed. At the moment when Eng- 
land attained the acme of her military renown, her laboring 
people were being reduced to pauperism. 

Reform Writers. — National glory won at such a cost 
was not cause for congratulation. Men were found bold 
enough to assert that while warring against the Continental 
System, England allowed more hateful impositions to pass 
unchallenged within her own boundaries. A revulsion of 
feeling characterized the second and third decades of the 
nineteenth century. The writers of the day were first to rec- 
ognize that the ideals of the French Revolution were far in 
advance of English conceptions of justice and right. Words- 
worth had greeted with rapture the birth of democracy in 
France, but the violence of the Jacobins filled him with such 
despair as to chill his faith in the ability of the people for 
self-government. Shelley's democratic idealism could, how- 
ever, ignore the ugly facts of the Revolution. Byron struck 
telling blows for freedom in his wild revolt against con- 
vention and dogma, while Burns, the Ayrshire ploughman, 
voiced the people's protest against class inequalities. 

Reform Politicians. — In 1819, the advocates of democ- 
racy formed the Radical party. The movement originated 
with Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, a twopenny 
sheet that had a wide circulation and enormous influence 
among the working-classes. The Radicals voiced the 
prevailing discontent and proposed legislative reforms that 
should give the people more influence in government. 
Redistribution of the representation, manhood suffrage, and 
annual parliaments were urged as the steps necessary to 
insure the expression of the popular will in order that the 
unrepresented people might make their purpose felt, mass 
meetings were held, secret associations were formed, 1 and 
propagandist literature was scattered far and wide. 

The government, abnormally suspicious of any popular 
movement, determined to crush the malcontents. A politi- 

1 E.g. the Hampden clubs. 



The Reform Bill of 1832 



423 



Conspiracy. 



Oman, 

72-82. 



cal demonstration at Spa Fields, London (1816), was 
broken up by the police. Three years later, a convention 
held in Manchester for the purpose of electing a " legislato- 
rial representative " for that unrepresented town, was raided 
by a military force, and seventy persons were injured. 
The Manchester Massacre, or the battle of Peterloo, 1 as 
it was derisively called, roused intense indignation ; but 
the Radicals were discredited by the attempt of a group of The 
fanatics to assassinate the Ministry, and Parliament passed a ^ato ^*™ e * 
series of laws imposing severe penalties on sedition. It 
was becoming every year more evident that the govern- 
ment was quite independent of the people, since the House 
of Commons represented only the landed gentry and the 
upper middle class. 

The Reform Bill of 1832. — The continental revolutions 
of 1830 which secured constitutional government for France, 
Belgium, and several of the German states, produced a 
marked effect in England. They seemed to prove that 
reforms could be accomplished without anarchy, and Eng- 
lishmen began to question whether, after all, their own 
constitution might not safely be modified to suit modern 
needs. The Tory party, which had enjoyed twenty-three William IV. 
years of unquestioned supremacy, showed signs of weakness 
at last. The reactionary policy of the government had 
driven the bulk of the middle class into the Opposition. 
In the elections that followed immediately upon the death 
of George IV (1830), the Whigs won a signal victory. The 
Tories lost fifty seats, and Wellington was obliged to resign. 
Lord Grey, who was called by William IV (1830-183 7) to 
take his place, had been for forty years the stanch cham- 
pion of parliamentary reform. A bill was framed by the 
Ministry and introduced in the House of Commons by Lord 
John Russell (March 1, 1831). It provided for the dis- 
enfranchisement of the rotten boroughs, the redistribution 
of seats among the counties and hitherto unrepresented 
towns, and the extension of the borough franchise to all 

1 The meeting was held in St. Peter's Field. 



424 The Growth of Democracy 

ten-pound householders. 1 The bill was received with 
derisive cheers from the Tory benches, and though en- 
dorsed by the king and maintained by all the influence the 
Ministry could bring to bear, it was defeated on the third 
reading by a majority of eight. The government determined 
to have recourse to the people. The dissolution of Parlia- 
ment was declared by the king in person on April 22, and 
through May and June the country rang with the excitement 
of the campaign. The result was even better than the 
Whigs had hoped. When the bill came to its third read- 
ing in the new House of Commons (September 21), it 
passed by a majority of one hundred and nine. The 
measure had still, however, to run the gantlet of the peers. 
The Upper House did not deign to admit the bill to consid- 
eration, but threw it out on the first reading by a majority 
of forty-one. 

The rejection, by a privileged and non-representative 
body, of a measure which had the enthusiastic support of 
the great majority of the nation roused intense indignation 
throughout the country. Political unions were formed with 
a view to bringing public opinion to bear upon the reac- 
tionary legislators. A reform programme was announced 
which went so far as to propose the abolition of all hereditary 
privileges and distinctions of rank. The Lords could noc 
but be influenced by the popular agitation, violent and ill- 
advised though it sometimes was, and when a third reform 
bill came up for its second reading in the Upper House, the 
Ministry succeeded in obtaining a majority of nine. A 
motion to postpone final action was, nevertheless, carried 
(May 7, 1832), and this was practical defeat. Driven to 
extremities, Lord Grey appealed to the king to overcome 
the opposing majority by the creation of new peers. This 
was refused, and the Ministry resigned. An attempt to 
form a Tory Cabinet under the Duke of Wellington failed. 
The popular protest was overwhelming. The Whig papers 

1 I.e. to adult males renting or owning property to the annual value 
of ^10. 



Effects of Reform 425 

came out in mourning, and petitions were sent up to Parlia- 
ment signed by thousands of the unrepresented. The agi- 
tators announced their determination to march to London 
in numbers sufficient to compel regard for the nation's will. 
Wellington dared not resort to force, for the military could 
not be trusted to fight against the people. Finally (May 15, 
1832) the king recalled Lord Grey and sent a circular letter 
to the peers, requesting them to withdraw their opposition. 
The Duke of Wellington and one hundred other peers ab- 
stained from voting, and thus the House of Lords approved 
the bill (June 4, 1832). 

Effects of Reform. — The Reform Act was a signal triumph 
of the popular will over vested right and hereditary privilege. 
Fifty-six rotten boroughs were disenfranchised, and thirty 
were deprived each of one member. The one hundred and 
forty-three memberships so vacated were assigned to the 
more populous counties and thirty-nine hitherto unrepre- 
sented towns. Thus, after an interval of nearly two hundred 
years, the electoral reform proposed by Cromwell was re- 
sumed. Representation was not yet, however, exactly pro- 
portioned to population. Manhood suffrage and annual 
parliaments were not even broached. But the people had 
got a foothold in the House of Commons and might bide 
their time. The Reform Act of 1832 transferred the balance 
of power from the landed aristocracy to the manufacturers 
and merchants — the dominant classes of the newly en- 
franchised towns. Only fifty Radicals were returned to the 
new Parliament. The populace, though it had borne the 
brunt of the agitation, was not yet intrusted with the ballot. 
The property qualification, an annual rental of £\o in 
towns and ^50 in rural districts, excluded all below the 
rank of well-to-do artisans and tenant-farmers. 

The Whigs now entered upon a long lease of power. 
From 1830 to 1874 the Tories were in office but eight years 
all told. With the change in the character of representation 
and the consequent change of policy, new party names were 
adopted. The Whigs, led henceforth by the progressive 



426 The Grozvtli of Democracy 

contingent, called themselves Liberals ; while the Tories, 
conceiving their function to be the preservation of a time- 
honored constitution, preferred to be known as Conserva- 
tives. 
Oman, Reform Legislation. — The reforms undertaken by the 

84-88. fj rst Parliament elected on the new basis were directed by 

middle class interests, and fell far short of popular expecta- 
tion. An act was passed (1833) emancipating the slaves 
on West Indian plantations, but with heavy compensation 
to their owners (^£20,000,000). The poor laws were revised 
(1834) with a view to checking the growth of pauperism. 
The new act was based on the wholesome principles of the 
Elizabethan law. The able-bodied could get no aid from 
the officials outside the workhouse. Only the aged and 
helpless were relieved in their own homes. The measure 
proved to be both just and merciful, but it was bitterly 
resented by the classes accustomed, for a century past, to 
regard parish aid as the poor man's right. More popular 
measures, e.g. the Factory Act (1833), and the reform in 
municipal government (1835), were not initiated in the 
House of Commons, but were forced upon its notice by 
public discontent. 

A revolt in Lower Canada (1836-1837) called attention to 
the fact that the French population bitterly resented the 
English administration. A commission sent out to study 
the situation reported the necessity of conceding fully repre- 
sentative government to these growing colonies. Each of 
the several provinces was granted (1840) an elective assem- 
bly with practical control over taxation and a responsible 
ministry. 
Oman, Chartist Agitation. — Beneficent and necessary as was 

9 2 -95- much of this legislation, it did not remove the sense of 

grievance from the minds of the common people, who had 
supported the Reform Act in the hope that a representative 
Parliament would enact more radical measures. The bulk 
of the Liberal party was, however, well content with the 
results attained. Lord John Russell declared in the first 




queen Victoria 



Chartist Agitation 427 

Parliament convened after the accession of Victoria (1837) 
that reform could not safely be pushed further. The dis- 
appointment and indignation of the Radicals was intense. 
Convinced that the people would never get their rights till 
they could send spokesmen to the House of Commons, they 
entered with renewed zeal upon a crusade for popular repre- 
sentation. A conference between certain prominent Radi- 
cals and the working-class leaders was called in 1838, and 
a programme for the new campaign was agreed upon. The 
six points of the People's Charter were : annual Parliaments, 
manhood suffrage, vote by ballot, the division of the country 
into equal electoral districts, abolition of the property quali- 
fication for members of the Lower House, and salaries for 
the people's representatives. The Chartists, as the agita- 
tors called themselves, advocated parliamentary reform only 
as a means to an end. The exact nature of that end was as 
yet undefined. Socialistic, even anarchistic, schemes were 
in the air, and awakened consternation among the propertied 
and order-loving classes. Malcontents of every party were 
attracted to the ranks of the reformers. " Universal suf- 
frage," said a Radical orator, " the meaning of universal 
suffrage is that every working-man in the land has a right to 
a good coat, a good roof, a good dinner, no more work than 
will keep him in health, and as much wages as will keep 
him in plenty." 

No effective means of propagating the new gospel was 
neglected. Newspapers and Radical clubs were set on foot 
in every principal town, mass meetings were called at fre- 
quent intervals, and in 1839 the Chartists held a national 
convention. A huge petition was sent to the House of 
Commons bearing 1,200,000 signatures. The petition was 
contemptuously rejected, and riotous outbreaks followed in 
divers parts of the kingdom. A second petition was pre- 
sented in 1842 and met with a like fate. This time the 
petitioners, some three million men, demanded not only 
the "six points," but the repeal of all class legislation, the 
abolition of monopolies, and the redistribution of property. 



428 The Growth of Democracy 

Demonstrations and riots grew so serious that thousands of 
middle-class voters were fairly frightened into the Conser- 
vative party. 

Sir Robert Peel and the Corn Laws. — By the elections of 
1 84 1, the Conservatives secured an overwhelming majority 
in the House of Commons. Their leader, Sir Robert Peel, 
Oman, was the son of a great cotton-mill owner of Lancashire, and 

97-100. hjg sympathies were enlisted with the manufacturing, as op- 

posed to the landed interest. He introduced measures cal- 
culated to better the conditions of the miners and operatives, 
such as the Mines Act of 184 1 and the Factory Act of 1844, 
and succeeded in reducing the import duties on some seven 
hundred and fifty articles that served as raw material for 
manufactures or as food for the working-classes. So far he 
was supported by his party, but when he proposed to reduce 
the duties on grain, he struck at the very foundations of the 
Tory aristocracy. 

The repeal of the Corn Law had long been advocated by 
enlightened Liberals who held that the interests of the great 
manufacturing communities ought not to be subordinated 
The Irish to those of the farmers and landlords. In 1845, ^ e Irish 
Famine. famine brought matters to a crisis. The potato crop failed, 

and four million people were reduced to the verge of star- 
vation. Food at lower prices must be had, whatever the 
loss to the landed interest. Early in 1846, much to the 
scandal of the Tories, who thought him a traitor, and of 
the Liberals, who accused him of stealing their thunder, 
Peel introduced a bill which provided for an immediate re- 
duction of the duties on imported grain and their abolition 
after 1849. Despite the protest of disappointed politicians 
and irate landowners, the measure passed both Houses. 
The loss of revenue to the government was made good by 
an income tax. 1 Shiploads of grain were sent over from 
America, the price of wheat fell to a normal level, and the 
poor were supplied with bread at reasonable rates. No 
more beneficent and far-reaching measure of reform was 

1 Seven pence in the pound on all incomes of £ 150 and over. 



Chartist Demonstration 429 

ever enacted by Parliament ; but the repeal of the Corn 
Law proved Peel's political ruin and produced a breach in 
the Conservative party that rendered it powerless for thirty 
years to come. 

Chartist Demonstration (1848). — The year 1848 wit- 
nessed a second epidemic of revolutions throughout the 
Continent. Not only France, Germany, and Italy, but 
Austria, the stronghold of despotism, was convulsed by 
the upheaval. Paris, the city of insurrections, was mastered 
by the combined strength of republicans and socialists, and 
a working-class republic was established. This signal suc- 
cess of their brothers across the Channel stirred the Chartists 
to new exertions. Under the lead of Feargus O'Connor, 
the democratic agitation came to a head. A national con- 
vention was assembled in London, April 6, 1848, and ar- 
rangements were made for a mighty demonstration. A 
monster petition, boasting five million signatures, was to be 
carried to Westminster on the 10th, by a body of five hundred 
thousand men. The government was, however, amply fore- 
warned. The Duke of Wellington was put in charge of the 
defence, and competent arrangements were made to prevent 
disorder. The Chartists were at odds among themselves as 
to whether they should or should not use force. The more 
timid and level-headed among them withdrew from a proj- 
ect which could only result in failure or defeat. Some 
twenty-five thousand finally gathered on Kennington Com- 
mon, but they were frightened by the force arrayed against 
them, and meekly consented to send their petition to the 
House of Commons in three cabs. When submitted to 
examination, the five million signatures dwindled to two 
million, many of these evidently bogus. So the most formi- 
dable working-class movement of the century ended in 
fiasco. When brought to the test, Chartism proved to be a 
mere wind-bag blown to portentous dimensions by dema- 
gogues and would-be politicians. 

Yet the agitation had its valuable results. The people 
were trained to think, to search for the causes of their 



430 The Growth of Democracy 

misery, to look for legislative reform. The "classes" were 
compelled to inquire into the condition of the "masses," 
to recognize their own responsibility for the national well- 
being, and to set about measures of redress. The essential 
clauses of the Charter have since been attained — not by 
insurrections and mob violence, but by the characteristically 
English method of free discussion and parliamentary enact- 
ment. 

Palmerston. — The dominant figure in English politics 
for the next seventeen years was Lord Palmerston, the most 
daring diplomatist that has held office in England since the 
elder Pitt. Palmerston was originally a Tory, but he joined 
the Whigs on the parliamentary reform issue and soon be- 
came a trusted leader. Essentially conservative, Palmerston 
was content with the measure of representation accorded in 
1832, and thereafter concerned himself little with domestic 
affairs. His brilliant talents were devoted to the prosecu- 
tion of a vigorous European policy. He resumed the office 
of foreign secretary in 1853 with the avowed purpose of 
pushing British interests in the East. 

The Eastern Question. — The trade routes to the Orient, 
and hence England's connections with India, lay at the 
mercy of the power controlling the Hellespont and the Red 
Sea. So long as these strategic points were in the hands of 
the Turk, the " sick man " 1 of Europe, the government felt 
secure. That security was now threatened, however, by 
Russia's interference in the affairs of the Sultan. Nicho- 
las I, " the iron Czar," had demanded that he should be 
accorded the right to protect Greek Christians residing in 
the dominions of the Porte against Mohammedan misrule, 
and, when his request was refused, sent troops across the 
Danube. It was to be feared that the Czar might utilize 
this opportunity to seize Constantinople and thereby secure 

1 The Czar Nicholas said to an English ambassador, "We have on 
our hands a sick man, a very sick man ; it would be a great misfortune if, 
one of these days, he should slip away from us before the necessary ar- 
rangements have been made." 



The Crimean War 431 

access to the Mediterranean Sea, the traditional goal of 
Russia's ambition. The protest of Palmerston, although 
coupled with that of Napoleon III, availed nothing, and war 
was declared in the spring of 1854. England and France 
sent a joint force to check the Russian advance, and, that 
being accomplished, moved on to attack the Czar's strong- 
hold on the Black Sea, the great fortress of Sebastopol. 

The Crimean War (1854-1856). — The government had Oman, 
been relying on diplomacy and was unprepared for war. I2 8-i4°- 
England had enjoyed a peace of forty years' duration. Not 
a shot had been fired by British troops on European soil 
since the battle of Waterloo. The army was wonted to 
barrack life, and the men were unprepared for active cam- 
paigning. Few of the officers had any experience of war, 
and many of them had secured their appointments by family 
or political influence. The commissary department proved 
quite inadequate to the emergency. Transportation facili- 
ties were lacking in the Crimea, and when winter came on 
the soldiers suffered for want of food, clothing, and shelter, 
though supplies in abundance had been shipped from Eng- 
land. In January, 1855, there were but eleven thousand 
men fit for service ; thirteen thousand lay sick in the im- 
provised hospitals. The death-roll from disease alone 
amounted in the end to nine thousand. 

Wellington's soldiers had died for lack of supplies in the 
Peninsular service, but there were no war correspondents to 
send home the facts. The telegraph had brought Sebastopol 
within hearing distance of London, and the dreadful details 
were printed in the daily papers. A wave of popular indig- 
nation swept the prime minister, Lord Aberdeen, from office, 
and Palmerston was called to take control of the govern- 
ment. Under his vigorous administration supplies were 
poured into the Crimea, a railway was built from the harbor 
to the scene of operations, medicines were provided, and 
an efficient force of hospital nurses sent out. 1 The allied 

. 1 Under the lead of Florence Nightingale, many English women went to 
the field. 



432 The Growth of Democracy 

troops fought well, but the Russians made stubborn resist- 
ance. Sebastopol was surrendered (September 8, 1855) 
after a siege of eleven months, and the Russian fortifications 
were demolished. 

Results. — The victory had cost England dear. Fully 
twenty thousand men had fallen in battle or died in hospi- 
tals, while the national debt was increased by p^33,ooo,ooo. 1 
The gains were but dubious. In the treaty of Paris that 
terminated the war, England won no permanent advantage. 
The reinstated Sultan promised to respect the liberties of 
his Christian subjects, but the pledge was not fulfilled. The 
stipulation that the Czar should destroy his arsenals on the 
Black Sea 2 checked the Russian advance toward Constanti- 
nople, but not for long. Palmerston saw clearly that the 
snake was "scotched, not killed "; but the nation was con- 
tent. The valor of British soldiers had made good the 
shortcomings of the administration. Russia was humiliated 
and exhausted. The Eastern question seemed settled. 

The East India Company Abolished. — Hardly was the 
Crimean War at an end when Great Britain was called upon 
to suppress a bloody insurrection in India. During the first 
half of the nineteenth century, the East India Company had 
pushed its conquests and annexed one after another of the 
native states, until the whole peninsula from the Ganges to 
the Indus was brought under the British crown. Railways 
were built connecting the ports with the interior, telegraph 
lines were carried through the country, and its rich resources 
were brought within reach of English trade. But the preju- 
dices of the natives were contemptuously ignored. Hindoos 
were forced to serve in the British army, and were even sent 
over-sea to fight the battles of England in Burmah and in 
China. The people grew restless and resentful. They 
cherished a tradition that the rule of the East India Com- 
pany would last but one hundred years, and eagerly awaited 
the centennial anniversary of the battle of Plassey. 

1 The war expenses for the three years were estimated at ;£ 77,588,000. 

2 This restriction was abandoned in 1870 after the fall of Napoleon III. 



Electoral Reform Again 433 

The spark that set flame to this smouldering discontent 
was the rumor that the native troops were to be forced to Oman, 
accept Christianity. On May 7, 1857, the Sepoys mutinied, 2I 9-239- 
slew their English officers, and declared the aged Mogul 
prince to be emperor of India. Within a few days they got 
possession of Delhi, the ancient capital, and other principal 
towns of the interior. Many of the English residents were 
massacred. Not even the women and children escaped the 
fury of the frenzied natives. The government was taken by 
surprise and was utterly unable to check the revolt until reen- 
forcements were sent from England. Then superior dis- 
cipline and generalship began to tell. Delhi was taken after 
a three months' siege, the poor emperor of India was made 
prisoner, and his sons and principal adherents were shot. 
The exasperated English dealt out terrible punishment to 
the rebels. When the revolt was finally suppressed, steps 
were taken to reform the government. The East India 
Company was abolished, and the government of India was 
brought under the direct administration of the Crown. 

Electoral Reform again. — Under the leadership of 
Palmerston, the Liberals were essentially a middle-class 
party. The limitations on county suffrage gave the balance 
of political power to the towns, and legislation was dictated 
by manufacturing and mercantile interests. The men who 
had achieved the reform of 1832 were content with this 
result and deprecated any change. Oddly enough, the only 
notable proposition for extension of the suffrage between 
1832 and 1868 came from the Conservatives. Disraeli, a 
brilliant and erratic member of Lord Derby's Cabinet, took 
advantage of their brief lease of power to introduce a bill 
(1859) providing for household franchise in town and 
country alike. The measure was intended to give more 
influence to agrarian interests and so to conciliate the 
landed aristocracy. A makeweight against democracy was 
proposed in the stipulation allowing additional votes to men 
of education and property. The defeat of the Ministry 
was a foregone conclusion, but the discussion served to 
2 F 



434 The Growth of Democracy 

bring the question of electoral reform again before the 
country. 

The Liberals and Extension of the Suffrage. — When 
the death of Palmerston (1865) left the more progressive 
element of the Liberal party in the ascendant, the work 
of reform was undertaken in earnest. Immediately upon his 
accession to the premiership, Lord Russell, the life-long 




John Bright 

From a photograph 



<y(rU^ /% 



'^U- 



champion of suffrage extension, framed a measure on which 
he staked the success of his administration. The bill was 
introduced in the House of Commons by Mr. Gladstone, a 
former Peelite, lately turned Liberal. He defended the 
project with remarkable eloquence, and was ably supported 
by the free-trade Radical, John Bright. But the measure 
was a timid makeshift and failed to secure the support of 



Elementary Education 43 5 

the Liberals as a whole. It was defeated in committee, and 
Lord Russell's government immediately resigned (June 
26, 1866). 

The Reform Act of 1867. — The new ministry under 
Lord Derby was composed of stiff Conservatives, but they 
found themselves forced by public feeling to broach the 
question of the suffrage. A reform league made up of Oman, 
Radicals and working-class leaders plainly signified the l S 2 ~ l6 7- 
determination of the people not to be defrauded of their 
rights by factious politicians. Throughout the summer and 
autumn the country was agitated by popular demonstrations, 
such as had extorted the first Reform Act. An attempt 
to hold a mass meeting in Hyde Park resulted in something 
very like a riot. Having no choice but to bring in a reform 
bill or to resign office, the Ministry finally yielded. Their 
scheme, as originally introduced by Disraeli (February 25, 
1867), was meant to provide against giving the balance of 
power to the working-classes, but the bill was amended 
again and again, the government yielding point by point, 
until it emerged, August 15, a more radical measure than 
the Liberals themselves would have proposed. Borough suf- 
frage was extended to all householders paying taxes and 
to all lodgers paying ^10 annual rent. In the counties all 
persons owning property of ^5 annual value and tenants 
paying £ 12 a year were entitled to vote. Thus after fifty 
years' debate were the people admitted to power. Lord 
Derby characterized the measure as a " leap in the dark," 
and many other Conservatives feared for the result ; but 
the party as a whole supported the measure, having, as 
Disraeli said, " been educated by events." 

Elementary Education. — "Now," said Robert Lowe, 
"we must educate our masters." Within three years of this Elementary 
second extension of the suffrage, Parliament enacted that Education 
every child in the United Kingdom should receive at least c ' x 
a primary education. The voluntary schools hitherto pro- 
vided by the established Church and the various religious 
sects, were to be supplemented by board schools, maintained 



436 



The Growth of Democracy 



Traill, VI, 
620-625. 



Oman, 
67-71. 



out of the parish rates. The local authorities were em- 
powered to compel the attendance of the children within 
their several districts. A marked falling off in the number 
of illiterates has been the result. The proportion of Eng- 
lishmen who could not sign their own names was thirty- 
three out of every hundred in 1843, thirteen in 1883, and 
three in 1899. 

Irish Affairs. — English party history can hardly be com- 
prehended without a review of Irish difficulties. By the 
Union, Pitt had hoped to secure to Ireland a just govern- 
ment and to England respite from the menace of insurrec- 
tion and foreign interference that had rendered the sister 
island a perpetual source of anxiety. In both respects the 
measure failed. Pitt's project of Catholic emancipation was 
thwarted by the opposition of the king, and no Romanist 
was admitted to the United Parliament. The Irish people 
felt themselves betrayed, and Bonaparte found malcontents 
ready to lend him aid in his proposed invasion of England. 
It the French troops had been able to effect a landing in 
1803, the English defence might have been paralyzed by an 
uprising in Ireland. 

Throughout the nineteenth century, the Irish question 
was an embarrassment to English politics and party leaders. 
The friends of Ireland protested vigorously and often effec- 
tively against the injustices involved in alien rule, against 
the religious bigotry that excluded Romanists from office 
and extorted from a Catholic population tithes for the sup- 
port of the Protestant Church, against the political arro- 
gance that intrusted the government of Ireland to a Cabinet 
that was essentially English, and finally against the system 
of land tenure that forced a starving peasantry to pay rack- 
rents to absentee landlords. 

Catholic Emancipation. — Irish agitation first took the 
form of a demand for removal of the political disabilities 
imposed on the Romanists. The Catholic Association, or- 
ganized by Daniel O'Connell for bringing pressure to bear 
on the government, sent petition after petition to the House 



The Irish Famine 437 

of Commons in vain. The repeal of the Test and Corpora- 
tion Acts (1828) relieved Dissenters from all legal dis- 
crimination, but Roman Catholics were regarded as more 
dangerous to the established order. The obstinate Tory 
Ministry held out until 1829, when, Irish revolt being feared, 
Wellington and Peel declared for emancipation. A bill was 
carried through both Houses providing that a Roman Catho- 
lic who could take oath to support the State and not to in- 
jure the established Church should be eligible to office. 
O'Connell was the first Romanist sent to the House of 
Commons as a representative of the Irish people. He soon 
had a following of fifty Repealers. 

Renewed Agitation. — The abolition of religious tests was 
an important concession, but it did not satisfy the Irish 
leaders. Admitted to Parliament, they continued to agitate, 
and with renewed vigor, for the abolition of tithes and for 
the repeal of the Act of Union. The ecclesiastical tithes 
were soon (1838) commuted to a rent charge to be paid by 
the landlord in lieu of the tenant ; but the demand for 
political independence, English statesmen, Liberal and Con- 
servative, were agreed in refusing. Resistance only fanned 
the flame of race jealousy. O'Connell had always kept 
within the law, but a new and more vigorous element among 
the Repealers, the young Ireland party, advocated resort to 
force and gained immense influence with the people. 
Monster mass meetings were held after the fashion of the 
contemporary Chartist demonstrations, and a formidable 
insurrection seemed imminent. The government, falling 
back on its powers of coercion, forbade the political conven- 
tions, arrested the ringleaders and threw them into prison. 

The Irish Famine. — Ireland was in a fair way to be sub- 
dued by force when the famine of 1842-1844 gave anew turn 
to the struggle. Thousands of the impoverished people 
died of starvation ; thousands more, evicted from their homes 
by the landlords to whom they could pay no rent, drifted 
into the poorhouses. Those who had the money to pay 
for the passage took ship for America. The English gov- 



438 



The Growth of Democracy 



Traill, VI, 
247-250. 



Disestab- 
lishment 
of the 
Irish 
Church. 



eminent repealed the Corn Laws and organized relief work, 
but these well-meant remedies came too late to save the 
situation. The population fell off more than one and one- 
half-million 1 in these years of unparalleled misery. The 
depopulated fields were turned into grazing lands, to the 
great advantage of the proprietors, for cattle paid better 
than peasant agriculture. 

Fenian Outbreaks. — Ireland seemed silenced, but her 
cause was urged with redoubled energy by her loyal sons 
in America. The Fenians, as this Irish-American party was 
called, did not stop at repeal of the Union. They advo- 
cated nothing less than complete separation. An attempt 
was made (1867) to get possession of the arsenals in Ireland 
and to carry the war across St. George's Channel, but every 
plot was frustrated. Fenianism, however, effected an im- 
portant change in English opinion. It had become ap- 
parent, even to partisan observers, that conditions giving 
rise to such persistent hatred must be seriously wrong. 

Gladstone's Irish Policy. — The Liberal party, led by 
Gladstone, accepted the task of ascertaining the actual situa- 
tion and endeavoring to meet Irish discontent with adequate 
measures of relief. In pursuance of this policy the Liberal 
leaders proposed three successive reforms ; the disestablish- 
ment of the English Church in Ireland, the modification of 
land laws in the interest of the tenant, and the restoration 
of the Irish legislature. The initial measure was introduced 
by Gladstone in the first Parliament elected on the reformed 
basis in 1868. The Liberals were in the ascendant, and the 
bill passed the Commons by a majority of one hundred. 
Indeed, it was difficult to find ground for defence of the 
Episcopal establishment in Ireland. The exclusive privi- 
leges of the Anglican Church were a direct affront to the 
Roman Catholic population, obliged to contribute directly 
or indirectly to its support. Its annual income from tithes 
and ecclesiastical lands was ^"600,000, yet it ministered to 

1 Population of Ireland in 1841, 8,175,124; in 1851,6,552,385; in 1901, 
4,443,370. 



Gladstone' s English Policy 439 

not more than one-tenth of the people. An Irish member 
declared that he paid tithes in eight parishes, in not one of 
which was there a church or a resident clergyman. The 
bill was, nevertheless, hotly debated in the House of Lords 
and amended so as to secure larger compensation to the 
disestablished clergy. The House of Commons insisted on 
the original form, and the Lords were forced to accept a 
compromise not at all to their liking. 

The disestablishment of the Protestant Church in Ireland Land Act of 
was quickly followed by the Land Act, which provided that l8 7°- 
the so-called "Ulster right," x the form of land-tenure custom- 
ary in the northern counties, should be legal throughout Ire- 
land. The measure proposed to secure the three " fs," fair Oman, 
rent, fixity of tenure, and free sale of the tenants' interest in l6 4-i6s. 
improvements. The government was further pledged to loan 
money to peasants desiring to purchase the land they tilled. 

In the bill proposing the reconstitution of Dublin Uni- 
versity, Mr. Gladstone went a step too far and lost his par- 
liamentary majority. The object of the measure was to 
remove religious tests, and so provide a non-sectarian edu- 
cation for all who desired to avail themselves of it. It was 
opposed by the priests, who objected to secular education, 
and by a large body of Liberals, who dreaded Roman 
Catholic ascendency. Defeated on these grounds, Glad- 
stone dissolved Parliament and appealed to the country. 
The elections of 1874 gave the Conservatives a majority of 
fifty, and Gladstone had no choice but to resign. 

Gladstone's English Policy. — This sudden and over- 
whelming defeat of a reform ministry so soon after the 
extension of the suffrage, seems at first inexplicable. Glad- 
stone's government had fulfilled all its pledges. In addition 
to the legislation having special reference to Ireland, Par- 
liament had provided for elementary education and a secret 
ballot, opened the civil service to public competition, abol- 

1 The custom in Ulster allowed the tenant to remain in possession, even 
without written contract, so long as he paid his rent, and when the holding 
was transferred to receive compensation for improvements. 



44Q 



The Groivth of Democracy 



ished religious tests in English universities, put an end to 
the purchase of commissions in the army, and introduced a 
bill for the reform of the law courts. The reaction in favor 




of the Conservatives had originated, not in the failure of the 
Liberal party to achieve the proposed reforms, but in the 



Lord Beaconsfield' s Government 441 

constitutional inability of the English people to digest so 
rich and varied a menu. Reform had gone too fast and too 
far. The national temper, essentially conservative, shrank 
from so rapid a change. Disraeli's denunciation of Glad- 
stone's policy expressed the sentiment of the country. " You 
have had four years of it ; you have despoiled churches, you 
have threatened every corporation and endowment in the 
country, you have examined into everybody's affairs, you 
have criticised every profession, and vexed every trade; no 
one is certain of his property, no one knows what duties 
he may have to perform to-morrow." Furthermore the Lib- 
eral government, in its zeal for domestic improvement, had 
somewhat neglected foreign affairs. In India and in Africa 
English interests were threatened, and the government, pre- 
ferring negotiation to war, had pursued a policy repugnant 
to the national pride. 

Lord Beaconsfleld's Government. — Disraeli 1 succeeded to 
the premiership in 1874, pledged to maintain the existing 
order at home, and to vindicate the national honor in foreign 
fields. The Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) gave the gov- 
ernment an opportunity to show its aggressive foreign policy. 
It was the old question in a new phase. The Christian sub- Oman, 
jects of the Sultan had risen in revolt, and Russia, ever on 1 7^~ 1 7 6 - 
the alert for opportunity to interfere in the affairs of the 
Porte, sent troops to their aid. The Sultan made what re- 
sistance he might, but he had not the limitless resources 
of the Czar. The Russian army seized the Turkish strong- 
holds in Bulgaria, crossed the Balkans, and advanced to the 
environs of Constantinople. Then the English government 
intervened, sending men-of-war to make a demonstration in 
the Sea of Marmora. Open hostility seemed inevitable, but 
Alexander II gave assurance that the occupation of Con- 
stantinople was not intended. At the instance of Austria, a 
conference of the European powers was convened at Berlin Berlin 
to settle the points in dispute, and there Beaconsfield played Congress, 
a leading role. England's traditional Eastern policy was x 7 ' 

1 Disraeli was created Earl of Beaconsfield in 1877. 



44 2 The Growth of Democracy 

once more triumphant. The Russian advance was checked, 
Bulgaria was promised independence, while the Christian 
province of Rumelia was restored to the Sultan, who made 
worthless promises of good government. 

The sacrifice of the Christian populations of Turkey to 
England's Oriental interests had been strenuously protested 
by Gladstone and the Liberals, but Beaconsfield had a great 
majority in the House of Commons, and could rely on the 
unflinching support of the Tories. In a secret treaty with 
the Porte, he went so far as to undertake, in return for the 
cession of Cyprus, to protect the Turkish dominions against 
all intruders. England thus gained a foothold in the eastern 
Mediterranean, and became responsible for the Sultan's mis- 
deeds. She has had reason to blush for her protege. 

India. — The imperialist policy of Lord Beaconsfield found 
congenial employ in East India. Queen Victoria was pro- 
claimed Empress of India in 1878, and measures were taken 
to render the government of that vast dependency more 
effective and beneficent. A disastrous famine had devas- 
tated the country in 1877-1878 and the government began to 
realize the necessity, not only of providing systematic relief, 
but of combating the ever recurring droughts. Railroads 
and other means of transportation were developed, in order 
that grain might be carried to the districts where crops had 
failed. Irrigating canals were constructed to convey the 
superfluous water of the mountains to the regions of insuffi- 
cient rainfall. So far as possible, employment on these 
public works was made to take the place of doles in money 
or food. These measures have gone far toward rendering 
India a prosperous and self-supporting country. 

Domestic Legislation. — In relation to internal affairs, Bea- 
consfield's government was less successful. The Conserva- 
tive party expressed a benevolent concern for the well-being 
of the laborer, and certain members showed a strong dispo- 
sition to legislate in the direction of technical schools, public 
provision for recreation, artisans' dwellings, an eight-hour 
day, etc. ; but the government was resolved to move slowly, 



The Irish Nationalists 443 

and little was accomplished beyond an Agricultural Holdings 
Act (1875), which secured compensation for improvements 
to English tenants, and the Labourers' Dwellings' Act (1875), 
empowering town corporations to purchase land and erect 
buildings for the accommodation of workmen's families. 

Agitation for Home Rule. — Toward Irish discontent the 
government showed an uncompromising severity. The recent 
reforms, liberal and well meaning though they were, had ap- 
parently not reached the root of the difficulty. Agitation in- 
creased with every concession. Hardly had Gladstone's land 
bill become law when the Irish party, under the lead of Isaac 
Butt, brought forward the demand for home rule. The new 
leader declared that Ireland could no longer consent to receive 
her laws at the hands of a Parliament, the great majority of 
whose members were Englishmen and Scotchmen. The 
advocates of home rule proposed, not the repeal of the Union, 
not separation, but an independent legislature, retaining re- 
lations to the British Parliament such as in America the state 
legislature bears to the government of the United States. 

The Irish Nationalists. — Controlling but a small mi- 
nority, fifty or sixty members, in the House of Commons, 
the Nationalist party remained in sulky isolation until Par- 
nell taught them how to compel attention. Charles Stewart 
Parnell, a man of cool head and steady nerve and an expert 
parliamentarian, succeeded Butt in the leadership in 1877. 
His policy was, in one word, obstruction. The House of 
Commons was to be hindered in the prosecution of any and 
every measure until Irish interests were considered. By 
moving amendments and forcing divisions, by making inter- 
minable speeches and dragging in irrelevant issues, the 
ordinary course of business was effectually checked. In 
despair of getting anything done, the government resorted 
to extreme measures. Parnell and other unruly members 
were censured by the House, and rules were adopted en- 
abling the speaker to silence an obstinate minority. 1 Never- 

1 E.g. the closure, a method of cutting off debate by calling for the pre- 
vious question. 



444 The Growth of Democracy 

theless, the obstructionists succeeded so far as to bring upon 
the government the charge of timid inefficiency. 

Gladstone again. — Parliament was dissolved and new 
elections were held in the spring of 1880. 1 Beaconsfield 
appealed to the country for support on the ground that the 
Conservative party alone could be trusted to maintain Eng- 
land's ascendency in the councils of Europe and to defend 
the empire against threatening disintegration. The Liberal 
platform, on the other hand, announced an " anti-jingo " 
foreign policy, progressive domestic legislation, redress for 
Irish grievances, but firm and consistent resistance to home 
rule. The election results showed that the tide had turned. 
The Liberals secured a clear majority of fifty-five, and Glad- 
stone was free to inaugurate a programme of reform. Cam- 
paign pledges were redeemed in the Irish Land Act (1881), 
which provided that rents should be determined by land 
Oman courts, and in the Reform Act (1884) which extended 

183-185. the suffrage to the agricultural laborers. The county fran- 

chise was now made identical with that of the borough, and 
adult males paying £,\o annual room or house rent were 
intrusted with the ballot. The manhood suffrage demanded 
by the Chartists was thus practically secured. 2 Another of 
the " six points," equal electoral districts, was attained in the 
year following. Counties and boroughs were divided into 
election divisions containing from fifty thousand to sixty 
thousand voters each. Every such district returns one 
member to the House of Commons. 

Gladstone's Foreign Policy. — The Liberals had amply ful- 
filled their promises of internal reform, but they failed a 
second time to meet the approval of the people in the con- 
duct of imperial affairs. Cape Colony, the distant province 
ceded by Holland at the peace of Vienna, had developed 
possibilities quite unforeseen in 1815. Wide grazing lands, 

1 Result of the elections of 1880: Liberals, 355; Conservatives, 238; 
Nationalists, 62. 

2 Four-fifths of the five million voters in the United Kingdom are quali- 
fied as householders. 



10 10 20 80 40 60 








40 


40 










SO 


■■jprm L^/Cx % c^ 


30 




A /-. : / _y \Vv\ * \i 




/-Spanish \ o £ s /; :: fl r f 1 S/A H A R A \£) \S\ ^"w'- 




20 ]"~"^-^ / 1 \ oil ] V "* . — 


20 


Z,_$_E [.EGA lA ^ A \ 8 U D A tO< v ; f\> \ 




t^— > . •, 0, e f y 


>^J OM DU B 


(M A rKj E/J,V \ ^^ 


10 


\ LEONE/ f If | /J7 " 


^ \ \ B 


/^~-5l * 6 i^^~^<^~~7 


ill 







- - . .S— i EAST AFR | CA \A v 





- - ■ i ' i "X 

Lake \ / 
</ — \Vicloria Y ' — 

CONG'O KA _^\ ; ./ 




\ Kj.REE STATE 1 GERMAN 1 / 






-B- C °" ff ^^^^^^^P tt SPHERE OfY 






J \ ■jW^FLUENCE / 




10 


(PORTUGUESE* / >~tA \ 


10 


20 


O C JS A N 

Tropic of Capricorn 


J WEST 
I AFRICA 


i BRITISH IL £ S £ 


20 






\H \ J 


THE PARTITION OF |? ; : ,^.j 


A F R 1 C Vy RAN s- 


30 


AFRICA V? 


/ VAAL , 


rR.J*impopo \-s 

I X D IAN 


30 


8CALE OF ENGLISH MILES V§^ 
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 Y^ 


CAP E" <? S~/ 


EXPLANATION 




> col u.Bi-.r 

*V^2^^ O C B A N 




__ 




British Territory 






40 


— FreDCh " 


~~ _ 


~ 


40 


Italian « ... 






PAliMg"' 1 "' " , , 


















50 


T^k- h 




1 1 1 1 -1 — 


60 


Independent " — ,— — . 




n . r^ l l j i 




10 West 10 Lonritude 20 from 30 Greenwich 40 East 60 





A Coalition Cabinet 445 

diamond fields, and promising gold deposits attracted Eng- 
lish immigrants and English capital, and led to the rapid 
extension of British control. Natal was annexed in 1843, 
Bechuanaland in 1867, and the Transvaal in 1877. The 
English advance was disputed by the native Kaffirs and by 
the Boers, descendants of the original Dutch colonists. The 
menace of Kaffir wars terminated with the subjection of the 
Zulus (1879), but the Boers protested the validity of the 
annexing proclamation, took up arms in defence of their 
independence, and at Majuba Hill (1880) won a signal 
victory. While yet in opposition Gladstone had con- 
demned the annexation project. In office, he refused to 
prosecute the war and concluded the Pretoria Convention 
(1881), granting the Transvaal "complete self-government 
subject to the suzerainty of Her Majesty." 

A more patent cause of grievance was the abandonment 
of the Soudan. Under Beaconsfield's administration Eng- 
land had undertaken to regulate the finances of Egypt, and Oman, 
thenceforth the queen's ministers became responsible for I 7 I -i72. 
the Khedive's government. The perplexing and uncon- 
genial task was assumed by the Liberal Cabinet with an ill 
grace. When the Mahdist revolt broke out in the Soudan, 
Gladstone judged the bankrupt Egyptian treasury quite in- 
adequate to the task of reconquest and determined to with- 
draw from the district. General Gordon was sent out to 
recover the Egyptian garrisons. Unhappily he and his little 
force were surrounded at Khartoum and cut to pieces. The 
massacre touched the martial pride of England and roused 
an angry protest against the milk-and-water methods of the 
government. A vote of censure on the Egyptian policy 
failed by fourteen votes, but in June of 1885 the Ministry 
was defeated on an amendment to the budget. 

A Coalition Cabinet. — Lord Salisbury was called to form 
a ministry, but the Conservatives were not strong enough to 
hold their own unaided. Lord Randolph Churchill, the 
leader of the "fourth party," as the progressive Tories were 
called, was summoned to the Cabinet. The Conservative 



180-183. 



446 The Groivth of Democracy 

party was thus committed to various projects for social 
and industrial improvement little akin to its former policy. 
Churchill, furthermore, negotiated an alliance with the Na- 
tionalists, who were ready to cast in their lot with any party 
that showed an inclination to concede home rule. Thus, 
by currying favor with Tory reformers and with the Irish 
party, the government was enabled to control a majority in 
the House of Commons, but little important business was 
put through. Both parties were making ready for a critical 
campaign. 

The Elections of 1885. — In the coming elections, the 
agricultural laborers were to cast their first ballots, and no 
man could surmise how their vote would affect the political 
future. The Conservatives relied on the influence of the 
clergy and the landed gentry to keep the rustics under party 
control, but the opposition candidates drew glowing pictures 
of the benefits to be expected of a Liberal administration. 
Land allotments, free schools, local self-government, dises- 
tablishment of the Scotch and Welsh churches, these and 
other legislative tidbits, Gladstone's more radical followers 
did not hesitate to offer. The unnatural alliance between 
Conservatives and home rulers was maintained throughout 
the campaign. Parnell instructed his party to vote for a 
Conservative wherever there was no Nationalist candidate. 
The result of the elections abundantly justified his tactics. 
The Liberals secured 333 seats, the Conservatives 251, but 
Ireland outside of Ulster went solid for home rule. Parnell 
could count on 86 members, and could by uniting forces 
with the Ministry enable them to outvote the Liberals. He 
had, therefore, the balance of power in his hands, and was 
in a position to extort concessions. Gladstone was directly 
converted to home rule. The result of the elections was no 
sooner known than he issued a manifesto favoring the 
Nationalist claims. The opportunity to introduce a home 
rule bill was soon vouchsafed him. In an amendment to 
the address, Salisbury's government was defeated by a vote 
of 329 to 258. Nationalists and Radicals voted with the 



Gladstone and Home Rule 447 

Opposition, while the protesting Liberals went over to the 

Conservative benches. 

Gladstone and Home Rule. — The Liberal Cabinet intro- Land 

duced two measures calculated to meet the demand of the Purchase 

Act 
Nationalists for economic and political reform. The Land l88 ' c 

Purchase Act (1885) appropriated ^50,000,000 as a loan 
fund to enable tenants to buy their holdings. The provi- 
sions of this law were much more favorable to the tenant 
than that of 1870, and the measure went far toward the 
solution of the agrarian question. 

The Home Rule Bill provided for the establishment in Home Rule 
Ireland of a separate executive government, solely respon- Blll > l886 - 
sible to a legislature sitting in Dublin and empowered to ° man ' 
deal with Irish affairs so far as they did not affect imperial 
interests. Irish representation in the British Parliament was 
to be discontinued. 

This complete surrender to the demands of the Nationalist 
faction roused intense indignation throughout England. 
Not even such popularity as Gladstone's could survive the 
storm of abuse heaped upon the author of this " scheme of 
disintegration." The "grand old man" was denounced as 
a political turncoat, a traitor to his party and to his country. 
His change of front was no more reprehensible than Peel's 
desertion of the Corn Laws in 1846, but home rule was an 
issue even more contentious than protection, since it involved 
race feeling. The breach occasioned in the Liberal party 
was deep and irreparable. The seceders, under the lead of 
Lord Hartington and Mr. Goschen (Whigs), Joseph Cham- 
berlain and John Bright (Radicals), called themselves Liberal 
Unionists and joined forces with the Conservatives on the 
Irish question. 

With ranks so depleted Gladstone could not carry his The Defeat 
measure, and the Home Rule Bill was lost, 311 votes for to of Home 
341 against. The only chance of success was an appeal to 
the country. In the elections of July, 1886, the Conserva- 
tives had an easy victory in the English constituencies, but 
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales stood loyally by Gladstone and 



448 The Growth of Democracy 

home rule. 1 The Conservatives returned 316 members, the 
Liberal Unionists 74, the Gladstone Liberals 196, the Par- 
nellites 84. The defeat was so decisive that Gladstone 
resigned, and Salisbury was summoned to form a ministry 
before Parliament met. 

Reaction. — In the autumn of 18S6 the Conservatives 
entered upon a long lease of power. The six years of their 
administration were marked by no legislation of first impor- 
tance except the Local Government Act (1888). By this 
measure, the anti-home-rule Ministry met the demand for 
local self-government in England, Wales, and Scotland 2 by 
establishing county councils elected by the freeholders and 
responsible each for the affairs of its own district. 

The summary rejection of home rule occasioned a series 
of riotous outbreaks in Ireland which the government put 
down with a strong hand. The Irish leaders now organized 
the National League for the purpose of continuing the agi- 
tation and of affording relief to tenants who refused to pay 
exorbitant rents. By the "plan of campaign" evicted 
farmers were to be supported out of a common fund pro- 
vided by the League. 

English Discontent. — The land question was not peculiar 
to Ireland. A steady fall in the price of food products, 
consequent on increased importations of grain, had reduced 
the profits of agriculture and occasioned general discontent 
among rent-paying farmers in Scotland and England. Salis- 
bury's government found itself obliged to extend the pro- 
visions of 1885 by which the Liberals had assisted Irish 
tenants to purchase land, to scale down the customary 
rents paid by the Scotch crofters to one-half, and grudgingly 
to afford English farm-laborers opportunity to buy allot- 
ments of land. 

Not only from the tillers of the soil, but from the working- 
class element of the cities and towns came the urgent 

1 The proportion voting in favor of home rule was : in Ireland, 4! 
to 1 ; in Scotland, 3 to I ; in Wales, 5 to 1. 

2 The Local Government Act for Scotland was passed in 1889. 



Elections 0/1892 449 

demand for redress of grievances. A convention of the un- 
employed was held in Trafalgar Square (November 13, 1887) 
to protest against the industrial order that gave them no 
opportunity to earn a livelihood. A great strike of the dock 
laborers of London and Hull brought to public attention the 
wretched condition of the "casual" hands at the shipping 
centres. John Burns, a machinist of Battersea, championed 
these unskilled laborers and taught them how to form an 
effective trade-union. 

A new element was coming to the front to urge social 
and industrial rather than political reforms. The Independ- 
ent Labour Party held that the State should interfere to 
secure a fair chance to the wage-earner. Propositions for 
a living wage, for an eight-hour day, for free primary educa. 
tion, for putting land at the disposal of the people, were 
brought forward by the working-class leaders, but a Con- 
servative government could hardly be expected to give them 
sympathetic treatment. The pageant of the Queen's Jubi- 
lee (1887), the fiftieth anniversary of Victoria's coronation, 
brought into marked relief the misery of the " submerged 
tenth " of the population. 

Elections of 1892. — Under the influence of the various 
hostile critics, the ministerial ranks thinned, until Salisbury 
could no longer be sure of his majority and dissolved Par- 
liament. The election returns of June, 1892, reversed the 
verdict given in 1886. Gladstonians and Nationalists com- 
bined could boast a majority of forty-two, 1 and the Con- 
servative government was readily defeated by an amendment 
to the address. A revised Home Rule Bill passed the House 
of Commons by a vote of 347 to 304, in spite of dissensions Oman, 
in the Nationalist ranks and the strenuous opposition of the i9 8 - I 99« 
majority of the English members. In the Upper House, 
however, it met with overwhelming defeat. Since Lord 
Grey forced the first reform bill through the House of 
Lords, that body had not ventured to reject a measure 

1 Election returns, 1892: Gladstonians, 271; Nationalists, 81; Labor 
Party, 4 ; Conservatives, 268 ; Liberal Unionists, 46. 
2G 



450 The Growth of Democracy 

sent up from the House of Commons, and indorsed by pop- 
ular support. It was generally supposed that its veto power, 
like that of the crown, had passed out of use. To the scan- 
dal of all Radicals, this measure, which had been approved 
by a majority of 203,014 votes in the recent elections, was 
rejected by a body of 600 men who could lay no claim to 
voice the will of the nation. Unionists argued in their de- 
fence that this ancient prerogative might be exercised in a case 
where an extra-constitutional measure was in question. The 
Lords, it was said, would never undertake to interfere in the 
course of ordinary legislation. But the Upper House, led 
by Lord Salisbury, plucked up courage to defeat other Lib- 
eral projects, e.g. the Employers' Liability Bill, and that 
provision of the Parish Councils Bill intrusting the local 
authorities with power to purchase land for sale in laborers' 
allotments. 

Agitation against the House of Lords. — Radicals had for 
years been protesting that the House of Lords was an an- 
achronism — a clog on the wheels of progress ; but while 
that body was content to amuse itself by ratifying the bills 
passed in the Lower House, its abolition had never been 
seriously considered. Certain measures of reform, it is true, 
had been proposed by Liberal peers, such as the raising of 
the quorum 1 and the unseating of absentee members. Now 
obstruction of popular projects laid them open to direct 
attack. Mr. Labouchere, the inveterate foe of hereditary 
privilege, introduced into the House of Commons a reso- 
lution stating that " the power now enjoyed by persons who 
were not elected to Parliament by the usual process of 
franchise, yet who are able to prevent the passage of bills, 
shall cease." The proposition had not been foreseen, and 
half the members were absent. To the surprise and amuse- 
ment of the House, it was carried by a vote of 147 to 145. 
The leaders of the Liberal party had expressed the convic- 
tion that the House of Lords must be reformed if it was to 
remain a part of the English constitution, but the govern- 

1 Three is the present quorum in a membership of 600. 



Salisbury's Domestic Policy 451 

ment could hardly adopt so hasty and ill-considered a 
measure, and it was allowed to drop. 

Retirement of Gladstone. — On March 3, 1894, Gladstone 
resigned the premiership and retired from public life. He 
was eighty-five years of age, and might well plead exemp- 
tion from the cares of office, but it is probable that the 
failure of the Irish legislation on which he had set his heart 
determined the final withdrawal. Lord Rosebery, who suc- 
ceeded to the head of the government and to the leader- 
ship of the Liberal party, was a man of far less magnetism 
and force. Moreover, as a peer, he was excluded from the 
House of Commons and unable to take part in its debates. 
He was successful, however, in rallying to his support the 
best elements of his party. 

The new Liberal leader proposed a formidable list of 
reforms. The constitution of the House of Lords was to be 
revised, the Welsh Church was to be disestablished, factory 
laws were to be amended in the interest of sanitation and 
safety, the Irish land laws were to be improved, but there 
was no mention of home rule. An unhappy split in the 
Nationalist party, the death of Parnell (1891), and the 
retirement of Gladstone had ruined that well-fought cause. 
Lord Rosebery declared that so long as England, " the pre- 
dominant partner," was clearly opposed to home rule, that 
question must be relegated to the future. Antagonized by 
delay in Irish legislation, the Nationalists withdrew their 
support, lukewarm Liberals and malcontent Radicals de- 
serted the government. On a vote to reduce the salary of 
the secretary of war, Rosebery lost his majority and resigned 
(June, 1895). 

Salisbury's Domestic Policy. — Lord Salisbury undertook 
the premiership, but his following in the House of Com- 
mons was inadequate for the prosecution of business. In 
July, 1895, he dissolved Parliament and called for new 
elections. The Liberals conducted a vigorous campaign, a 
home rule plank was added to the Rosebery platform, and Whates, 
other bids for popular favor were introduced — all to no I-18- 



452 



The Growth of Democracy 



avail. The party was overwhelmingly defeated at the polls. 
They secured only 177 seats against 411 won by the Con- 
servatives. The Unionists could boast 71 members in the 
new House and were accorded representation in the Cabinet 
in the person of Joseph Chamberlain, secretary for the 
colonies. So supported, the government could afford to dis- 
pense with the Nationalist vote ; Arthur Balfour, Lord Salis- 




Balfour's 

Irish 

Reforms. 



Joseph Chamberlain 

bury's talented nephew, was appointed secretary for Ireland, 
and he undertook to "kill home rule with kindness." The 
Irish Land Act, intended to facilitate the purchase of farms 
by the peasantry, was forced through the Upper House 
against the bitter opposition of the Irish peers. The Local 
Government for Ireland Act established the county council 
form of self-government already in successful operation in 
England, Wales, and Scotland. The Irish members accepted 
this concession with grudging gratitude, declaring that it was 
not a satisfactory substitute for home rule. 



The Eastern Question in a New Phase 453 

Their campaign pledges committed the Conservatives to 
a long list of social reforms, employers' liability for acci- 
dents, arbitration of labor disputes, old age pensions, free 
elementary education, etc., but once in power their reform 
ardor cooled. The inevitable inertia of a Parliament domi- 
nated by the land-owning and capitalist classes, the access 
of prosperity that gave employment to all at rising wages 
and temporarily silenced social discontent, preoccupation 
in unforeseen foreign and colonial difficulties, sufficiently 
account for the failure of Lord Salisbury's cabinet to re- 
deem its election pledges. Some halting measures of 
reform were nevertheless achieved. The Workmen's Com- Abortive 
pensation for Accident Act did not extend to seamen, and measures, 
contained a contracting-out clause that largely nullified its 
operation. The Coal Mines Regulation Act has proved in- 
adequate to guard miners against danger from fire and ex- 
plosions. Arbitration under the auspices of the Board of 
Trade was made permissible, but not compulsory. The 
Small Dwellings Acquisition Act was but the half-hearted 
beginning of an important movement toward putting the 
laborer in possession of his home. The Agricultural Land 
Rating Act reduced the government's revenue from land at 
the expense of urban tax-payers. 

The Eastern Question in a New Phase. — The year of the 
Queen's Diamond Jubilee found Great Britain at peace with 
all the world, but unforeseen events soon plunged the Min- 
istry into a series of foreign complications that taxed the 
utmost ability of its members and imposed a severe strain 
upon the resources of the Empire. 

The Armenian massacres (1 896-1897) shocked the moral whates, 
sense of Europe and attracted renewed attention to the Bk.i.ch. in 
weakness and brutality of Turkish rule. The Armenians 
cried out for deliverance from political and religious op- 
pression, but the European powers, notably Germany and 
Russia, were jealous of British influence in the East, and 
England could not act alone. A concert of the Powers was 
formed in the hope of compelling the Sultan to maintain 



454 The Growth of Democracy 

order and protect his Christian subjects, but the govern- 
ments concerned were unable to agree upon a plan of 
coercion. Their evident impotence encouraged the Turks 
to defiance, and the massacres were renewed. The disorders 
Whates, spread to Crete, where Moslems and Christians were soon 

Bk. i,ch. IV. en g a g ec i j n a life-and-death struggle. This transference of 
the Eastern Question to the Mediterranean roused intense 
indignation in England, but diplomatic considerations for- 
bade Lord Salisbury to intervene. The Greek government 
was less cautious. Impelled by the ardent enthusiasm of 
the populace for the Cretan cause, the king sent a flotilla 
under Prince George to Candia. The expulsion of the 
Turks and the annexation of the island to Greece might 
have been accomplished but for the jealous interference of 
the northern powers. After two years of diplomatic hag- 
gling Crete was accorded independence of Turkey and prac- 
tical autonomy, Prince George, in spite of Russian protests, 
being appointed governor. Peace and prosperity were thus 
restored to the island, and its Greek inhabitants were 
secured political and religious liberty. 

The Armenians, on the contrary, were abandoned to the 
Turk. Thousands of men, women, and children fell prey to 
the lawless cruelty of the Kurds ; thousands more migrated 
to America. Salisbury's policy of non-intervention was 
bitterly criticised by the Liberal minority both in the House 
and out. Protests were raised even in Conservative ranks 
on the ground that his conduct of Eastern affairs had been 
weak and vacillating. The situation was full of difficulties, 
however, and a more vigorous policy might have involved 
Great Britain in a European war. 

Complications in the Far East. — England's lucrative trade 

relations with China were menaced by the Boxer rising 

Whates, (1900-1902). The European legations in Pekin were at- 

Bk. in, tacked, and, to effect their rescue, the allied forces of Eng- 

ch. IV, V. j anc j^ Germany, and the United States took possession of the 

city. The partition of the Chinese Empire might have 

followed but for the stand taken by England and the 



The Conquest of the Soudan 455 

United States. Neither power desired any portion of Chi- The " Open 
nese territory, but both urged the "open door," or free- Door" to 
dom of trade, with all parts of the Empire. As a result t . 
of this policy, the empress dowager was induced to open all 
important ports to foreign trade, to grant extensive railway 
and mining concessions, and to admit European steamers to 
the river traffic. 

The Conquest of the Soudan. — The battle of Adowa (1896) 
in which an Italian army met with overwhelming defeat at the 
hands of Menelik, king of Abyssinia, reopened the question 
of the recovery of the Soudan to Egypt. Lord Cromer, Whates, 
the English governor-general, was persuaded that the security Bk - IV - 
of the lower Nile was menaced by the growing strength ' ' ' 
of the Khalifa and the fanaticism of his Dervish troops. 
Against the strenuous protests of the Opposition and with- 
out full recognition on the part of the Conservatives of its 
ultimate designs, the government undertook the conquest of 
the Soudan. In June, 1896, Sir Herbert Kitchener set out 
on his victorious march up the Nile. Dongola was reached 
in September and Abdullah's army put to rout. The de- 
fence of Lower Egypt was thus secured, but the advance, 
in spite of disclaimers on the part of Lord Salisbury, was 
steadily prosecuted. The extension of the railroad to 
Atbara brought the Anglo-Egyptian army within striking 
reach of Omdurman and Khartoum. The desert men fought 
with fanatic courage, but disciplined troops and Maxim 
guns gave Kitchener an easy victory. Omdurman was 
taken, and thus after thirteen years was Gordon avenged. 

This brilliant success brought England to the verge of war 
with France. In the name of the Khedive, the government France 
laid claim to the valley of the Nile and all its branches, but withdraws 
as Kitchener's gunboats pushed up the White Nile, they 
came upon a French outpost. Marchand, " an emissary of 
civilization," had forced his way through from Nigeria and 
was in quiet occupation of Fashoda. Lord Salisbury's vigo- 
rous protest induced the French Cabinet to withdraw the 
expedition, and their untenable claim to the upper Nile 
valley was abandoned. 



456 



The Growth of Democracy 



Whates, 
Bk.VI. 



Jameson's 
Raid, 1896. 



In Egypt as in India, the English occupation has been 
justified by good government. The oppressive rule of Turk 
and Dervish has been supplanted by an administration bent 
on developing the resources of the country. By compara- 
tively moderate taxation, Lord Cromer has succeeded in 
constructing roads and schools, railways and irrigation canals, 
that have proven of enormous benefit to the peasant popu- 
lation. 

The Boer War. — The discovery of gold in the Rand and 
the consequent investment of English capital in the Trans- 
vaal brought the question of the status of that country again 
to the front. The Dutch government treated the English 
residents as foreigners, denied them political privileges, and 
imposed a heavy tribute on the output of the mines. Cham- 
berlain, as secretary for the colonies, undertook to put an 
end to this situation by reasserting Britain's suzerainty over 
the republic. Negotiations were rendered difficult by the 
impatience of the Uitlanders. A conspiracy was formed by 
the mining interests, represented by Cecil Rhodes and Alfred 
Beit, to unseat the Boer government through an Uitlander 
insurrection. Jameson's attack on Johannesburg failed and 
the English authorities washed their hands of the affair, but 
the natural distrust engendered among the Boers prejudiced 
the question of the franchise. Chamberlain proved an 
untactful diplomatist, and acted throughout on the assump- 
tion that the Boers would yield to coercion without appeal 
to arms. In September, 1899, President Kruger submitted 
the Volksraad's ultimatum, the franchise to Uitlanders who 
could prove five years' continuous residence and ten seats in 
the Volksraad accorded to the Rand, on condition that there 
should be no farther interference in the affairs of the Trans- 
vaal and that the question of suzerainty be submitted to 
arbitration. The rejection of these terms was answered by 
the declaration of war. In the melancholy conflict that 
ensued, the resources of the British Empire were pitted 
against the Boer Republic. Troops to the number of three 
hundred and fifty-seven thousand were sent to South Africa 



Endorsement of tJic War 457 

to conquer the territory defended by seventy-five thousand 
men. The cost ' in money and in human life was twice that 
of the Crimean War, and the revelations of incapacity and 
maladministration were no less humiliating. Englishmen 
found a solace to wounded imperial pride in the outburst of 
enthusiastic loyalty on the part of the colonies. Canada, 
Australia, and New Zealand sent volunteer troops to South 
Africa to aid the mother-country in her extremity. 

The death of Queen Victoria and the accession of Edward VII, 
Edward VII took place at the darkest period of the war. 1901. 
The king was determined that peace should be declared 
before the coronation ceremony, but the negotiations failed. 

Endorsement of the War. — Criticisms of the govern- 
ment's policy grew so insistent that, in 1901, Salisbury dis- 
solved Parliament and appealed to the country for a judgment. 
The returns were highly encouraging. The Conservatives 
carried 334 seats and the Unionists 68. The Opposition 
forces secured but 268 seats, 82 of which belonged to the 
Nationalists. The Liberal party was divided between dis- 
approval of the war and desire to stand by England in her 
heavy task ; but the Irish party was hampered by no such 
scruples. They made the cause of the Boers their own, and 
under the vigorous leadership of John Redmond were able 
once more to rally their full fighting strength in the House 
of Commons. 

Reassured as to parliamentary support, the Ministry forced 
the South African War to a finish. Lord Kitchener was sent 
to direct the campaign, and his remorseless methods soon 
reduced the Boer commanders to mere guerilla warfare. 
Non-combatants were concentrated in refugee camps, and 
prisoners of war to the number of forty-two thousand were 
transported to Ceylon, St. Helena, and Jamaica ; but yet the 
Boer leaders would not acknowledge that their cause was 
lost. Salisbury insisted on unconditional surrender, while 

1 The South African War cost ^206,224,000. Twenty-two thousand Brit- 
ish officers god men were killed, seventy-five thousand invalided were sent 
home, 



458 



The Growth of Democracy 



Terms of 
Peace. 



Whates," 
Bk. VII. 



the representatives of the Transvaal would accept British 
suzerainty only in case the government should agree to 
repatriate the exiled Boers and restore the confiscated lands, 
make full compensation for property destroyed by British 
troops, impose no reprisals on their allies in Cape Colony, 
and grant to the Transvaal and the Orange Free State local 
autonomy comparable to that accorded to Canada and the 
Australian colonies. These terms Lord Salisbury's ministry 
was forced to grant in order to bring the war to a close. 
The House of Commons voted a generous loan in aid of 
the widows and orphans and for the rehabilitation of the 
devastated farms of the Velt. Unrestricted self-government, 
however, the Conservative cabinet could not be induced to 
approve, believing that the interests of British residents 
could not be intrusted to a legislature in which the majority 
would inevitably be Dutchmen. In response to the demand 
for hands to work the mines of the Rand, the government 
arranged a labor contract under which Chinese coolies were 
admitted to the Transvaal. 

An Imperial Customs Union Proposed. — The extraordi- 
nary war expenditure necessitated increased taxation. The 
income tax was raised from eight pence to one shilling, to 
fourteen pence, and again to fifteen pence in the pound. An 
import duty of a halfpenny per pound was laid on sugar, and 
an export duty of a shilling per ton on coal. Even a bread 
tax was proposed in the shape of a duty on imported grain 
and flour. This suggestion was welcomed by the agricul- 
tural interests ; but, though it involved only a slight increase 
of price, the impost was strenuously denounced in manufac- 
turing centres, and the government was obliged to abandon 
the project. 

Chamberlain, as colonial secretary, then proposed a system 
of preferential tariffs between Great Britain and her colonies, 
with a view to " securing as large a share as possible of the 
mutual trade of the United Kingdom and the colonies for 
British producers and manufactures, whether located in the 
colonies or in the United Kingdom." The scheme involved 



The Conservatives lose Control 



459 



a reciprocity agreement with each of the self-governing 
colonies under which import duties were to be lowered or 
removed in respect of British-made goods. A compensat- 
ing advantage was promised in the way of preferential treat- 
ment of colonial products at all British ports. Canada, 
Australia, and New Zealand adopted measures looking toward 
such a customs union ; but the House of Commons could 
not be induced to impose discriminating duties on foreign 
imports, since such protection was protested by both the 
manufacturing and the commercial interests of England. 

The Land Purchase Act. — Substantial justice was at last 
accorded to the Irish peasantry in the Land Purchase Act 
of 1903. The imperial exchequer was pledged to furnish 
advances of money to peasant purchasers to the amount of 
^£100,000,000. The sums so borrowed are to be refunded 
by means of an annual interest charge of 3^ per cent. By 
this arrangement a farmer who keeps up his payments is 
assured clear title to his land at the end of sixty-eight years. 
An inducement to sell is offered to the Irish landlord in the 
shape of a money bonus amounting to from 5 percent to 15 
per cent on the purchase price. It was estimated that the 
resulting charge of some ^12,000,000 on the exchequer 
would be fully offset by the reduction in the cost of maintain- 
ing land courts and police force, made possible by the re- 
moval of the agrarian grievances of Ireland. This measure 
was cordially endorsed by the National League and went 
far to propitiate the Nationalist party. 

The Conservatives lose Control. — Assured of its majority 
in the House of Commons and backed by a Tory House of 
Lords, the Conservative party carried through a measure 
extending grants in aid of public education to the voluntary 
schools hitherto maintained in part and controlled in full 
by the churches. Since the great majority of such schools 
were, in England of the Anglican, and in Ireland of the 
Roman Catholic faith, the law was bitterly opposed, not 
only by Liberals and Radicals, but by all Dissenters. School 
rates for the support of denominational religious instruction 



Dunraven, 
The Outlook 
in Ire/and. 



Education 
Act, 1902. 



460 



The Growth of Democracy 



Balfour's 
Cabinet. 



Liberal 
Victory, 
1906. 



were protested as unjust and illegal. Members of the Pas- 
sive Resistance League refused to pay the tax, and when 
prosecuted went cheerfully to jail as martyrs to a just cause. 

The long and bitter controversy waged over the Education 
Act absorbed the attention of the Ministry at the expense 
of other legislation deemed far more important by Liberal 
Unionists, and this contingent of Lord Salisbury's support 
grew lukewarm and unreliable. Lord Salisbury himself re- 
signed the premiership in July, 1902. He was an old man 
and weary of the heavy responsibility. Disheartened by the 
failure of his protective policy, Chamberlain withdrew from 
the Colonial Office in the year following. 

Balfour was appointed prime minister. His great ability 
in parliamentary debate and his skill in the administration of 
Ireland had indicated his fitness for this high office, but he 
made an ineffective party leader. His cabinet was composed 
of friends and relatives, unprogressive men, and notably lack- 
ing in statesmanship. Would-be reformers, such men as Win- 
ston Churchill, dropped away one by one, and by-elections 
went against the Conservatives. Their enormous majority 
dwindled until Balfour was constrained to resign, and the king 
asked Campbell-Bannerman to reorganize the government. 

In the elections of January, 1906, the Liberals secured 
375 seats and the Conservatives and Unionists combined but 
158. The Nationalists carried an additional Irish district, 
so that John Redmond could count on a stanch following of 
83 members ; but the Labour party scored the most brilliant 
victory. Their leader, Keir Hardie, rallied 53 votes, of which 
some 23 were avowedly Socialist. The effect of the advent 
of this strong body of men pledged to Radical reforms marks 
as great a change in the character of the House of Commons 
as that brought about by the Reform Act of 1832. Both 
Nationalists and Labour men indicate their independence of 
the party in power by sitting on the Opposition side of the 
House. They vote with the Liberals only so far as they find 
themselves in accord with the ministerial policy. Campbell- 
Bannerman, dreading their defection, undertook to conciliate 



Home Rule Measures 461 

these factious adherents by appointing John Burns, the ablest 
member of the Labour party, president of the Local Govern- 
ment Board, and James Bryce, the consistent friend of home 
rule, chief secretary for Ireland. 

Backed by this rather unwieldy majority, the Campbell- Campbell- 
Bannerman Ministry set out to fulfil its extensive reform pro- Banner- 
gramme. The demands of the Labour party have been met ™nciiiatorv 
in a series of important measures. The Trade Union Dis- policy, 
putes Act declares the accumulated funds of a labour union 
not liable to be drawn upon to meet penalties imposed by 
the courts upon its officers. The Workmen's Compensation 
Act was extended to include seamen and domestic servants. 
The Eight Hours' Day for Miners Bill was espoused by the 
Ministry, but, because of differences of opinion in the trades 
concerned, was referred to a royal commission of inquiry. 
An act empowering school boards to feed needy scholars 
passed both Houses, though an amendment excepting Scot- 
land was achieved by a Scotch peer. Other socialistic prop- 
ositions, such as old age pensions, systematic relief of the 
unemployed, compulsory land purchase, the nationalization 
of railroads, and the furtherance of municipal ownership, 
have been urged on the attention of the Ministry, but have 
not as yet been incorporated in the Liberal programme. 

Home Rule Measures. — In August, 1906, Winston Churchill, 
under-secretary for the colonies, brought forward and carried 
by a large majority a bill conceding to the Transvaal full 
representative government. Political suffrage is accorded to Responsible 
every man of European descent who has resided six months 
in the country. Of the sixty- nine members of the legislative 
assembly, thirty-two represent the Rand, an arrangement 
intended to give the balance of power to the English pop- 
ulation. Either Dutch or English may be used in official 
business, but Dutch is the language of the public schools. 
The importation of Chinese laborers is forbidden. The re- 
cent elections turned, however, not on race antagonism, but on 
the question whether the people or the mining companies 
should control the Transvaal. The English Nationalists and 



Government 
for South 
Africa. 



The Growth of Democracy 



Transvaal 
Elections, 
1907. 



Irish 
Council 
Bill, 1907. 



Abolition or 
Reorganiza- 
tion of the 
House of 
Lords ? 



the Dutch Het Volk united in resistance to the selfish policy 
of the mining syndicates. The result was a signal victory 
for the people. General Botha, the first premier of the new 
colony, declares that " British supremacy will be safer in the 
hands of the Boers than in those of cosmopolitan capitalists." 

The persistent demand for home rule for Ireland has been 
recognized in the proposal for a central Irish Council, in 
part elected and in part appointed by the crown, which is to 
be responsible for the administration of such purely Irish 
affairs as do not bring in question imperial interests. The 
scheme has not found favor with the Irish people, who 
cling to their purpose of securing unqualified home rule. 

The Education Bill of 1906. — Augustine Birrell, president 
of the national Board of Education, was responsible for a 
measure intended to supersede the Education Act of 1902. 
It proposed to withdraw rate aid from church schools and 
to provide no denominational instruction at public cost, no 
religious test was to be applied to teachers, and no child 
should be required to attend such religious instruction as 
might be voluntarily provided. The bill passed the House 
of Commons by a majority of 192, but it was defeated in the 
Upper House by wholesale amendments in the interest of 
denominational instruction. 

This defiance of the popular will definitely expressed in a 
recent election has raised anew the question whether to "end 
or mend" the House of Lords. With a body of six hundred 
members, nine-tenths of whom vote Conservative, it is quite 
impracticable to swamp a majority by the creation of new 
peers. Various propositions have been brought forward, 
such as to withhold the writ of summons from habitual absen- 
tees, to raise the quorum to a fair proportion, or to reduce 
the number of hereditary peers and substitute a considerable 
number of elected peers, who shall sit for life as do the Scotch 
and Irish peers and the law lords and bishops. 

The Labour party brought in a proposition to abolish the 
Upper House, but their bill was not supported by the Min- 
istry. Campbell-Bannerman's resolution looking toward 



Important Events 463 

the curtailment of its powers secured a majority of 285 in 
the House of Commons, but the peers cannot be expected 
to cooperate in this movement. Lord Newton has sub- 
mitted to the Upper House a plan limiting its membership 
to three classes of peers — those who have rendered dis- 
tinguished public service, appointees of the crown, and 
representatives elected by the whole peerage. A more 
radical measure is not likely to be adopted. Most English- 
men regard the House of Lords as an integral part of the 
British Constitution and an important make-weight against 
hasty and ill-considered action by the more popular House. 
It is proposed that in case of hopeless disagreement be- 
tween the two Houses, the question in dispute be submitted 
to direct vote of the people, the ultimate authority in a con- 
stitutional government. 



Important Events 

George III, 1760-1820. 
Peace of Amiens, 1802. 
Renewal of war with France, 1803. 
Battle of Trafalgar, 1805. 
The Orders in Council, 1807. 
The Peninsular War, 1808-1814. 
The American War, 1812-1814. 
The Congress of Vienna, 1815. 
The Manchester Massacre, 1819. 

George IV, 1820-1830. 

Catholic Emancipation, 1829. 

William IV, 1830-1837. 
Electoral reform, 1832. 
Abolition of slavery in the colonies, 1833. 
Factory Act for protection of children, 1833. 
The new Poor Law, 1834. 
Municipal reform, 1835. 



464 The Growth of Democracy 

Victoria, 1 837-1901. 

Repeal of the Corn Laws. 1846. 

The Chartist demonstration, 1848. 

The Crimean War, 1 854-1856. 

Electoral reform, 1867. 

Disestablishment of the Irish Church, 1869. 

Reform of the Irish land laws, 1870. 

Elementary education, 1870. 

The Berlin Congress, 1878. 

The Irish Land Act, 1881. 

Electoral reform, 1884 and 1885. 

Irish Land Purchase Act, 1885. 

Scotch Crofters Act, 1886. 

Small Agricultural Holdings Act, 1890. 

Failure of the Home Rule Bills, 1886 and 1894. 

The Queen's Jubilees, 1887, 1897. 

Local Government for Ireland Act, 1898. 

The Boer War, 1 898-1 902. 

Edward VII, 1901-. 
Education Act, 1902. 
Irish Land Purchase Act, 1903. 
Agricultural Holdings Act, 1906. 
Representative Government for the Transvaal, 1906. 



5=2 



^ 



1-1 CO 

3- 



s •! 



-] a, 
S 












B 



.EQ 
S 






— -o S °co g ON 












0*3 



466 Chief Contemporaries 



w 55 -HSS8 « 8 g .§ a 

Am o ??Uh1 pl. m Q e> m 



5 5 -d 



S g * 

o & £ 



Ai 



o 



i-i ~ „ ,_r 

1 £S| 

I 8 III 

g < £ £ £ 



o « 
U 



£ 



a 


•3 


cd 





ft 


»3 


00 


& £ A 

e» ^2 ^ 5 

M _ "J 1 <3\ 


13 


-J "O ^ " 


fj 


>">;-> 






4J 


u a .2" -s 


5 


Georg 
Willia 
Victor 
Edwai 



rig. 

5Z1 OS 



CHAPTER XV 

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 
Books for Consultation 

Special References 

Toynbee, Industrial Revolution. 

Ward, Reign of Queen Victoria. 

Taylor, Modern Factory System. 

Smiles, Life of George Stephenson. 

Muirhead, Life of James Watt. 

Smiles, Life of Bolton and Watt. 

Warwick, Life of Joseph Arch. 

Charles Booth, Life and I^abor of the People. 

General Booth, Ln Darkest England. 

Bowley, A. L., National Progress since 1882. 

Illustrative Readings 

Bronte, Shirley. 

Kingsley, Alton Locke. 

Disraeli, Sybil. 

Besant, The Children of Gibeon ; All Sorts and Conditions of Men. 

Ward, Marcclla. 

Carlyle, Sartor Resartus. 

Ruskin, Unto This Last. 

Domestic Manufacturer. — The first half of the eighteenth 
century was a period of marked prosperity for the working- 
class population of England. The arable land was still for 
the most part tilled by peasants in small holdings. Under 
the influence of the bounty on exports (1689), the price of 
grain was such as to insure a steady profit to the producer. 
The farmer's income was further enhanced by certain by- 
industries. The exclusive policy of the gilds had driven 
cloth manufacturers who were not of the favored companies 
467 



468 



The Industrial Revolution 



Defoe, Tour 
through 
Great 
Britain. 
Vol. I, Letter 
I, 92-94. 
Vol. Ill, 
Letter I, 
99-102, 
116-121. 



Traill, V, 
305-310. 



Cunning- 
ham, 
pp. 219, 220. 



Traill, V, 
468-474. 
Traill, VI, 
69-74. 



into the rural districts, and the woollen industry was largely 
transferred from the city to the farm. Carding, spinning, 
weaving, and dyeing were carried on with good success in 
thousands of cottage homes. The homespun broadcloths 
and serges found a ready market in the neighboring towns 
and brought in a welcome addition to the yeoman's income. 
Introduction of Textile Machinery. — Until 1 700, the im- 
plements employed in cloth manufacture were nearly as 
simple as those of India. The distaff and spindle had been 
displaced by the spinning-wheel in the fifteenth century, but 
the loom contained as yet no essential improvement on that 
used by the Anglo-Saxons. In 1738 one John Kay in- 
vented the fly-shuttle, which enabled one man to tend the 
loom that had heretofore required two. At the same time, 
the productive power was doubled. The fly-shuttle came 
rapidly into general use, and, since the efficiency of the 
weaver was quadrupled, the looms soon outstripped the 
spinning-wheels. It was difficult to provide yarn for all 
the weavers. In 1767 Hargreaves stumbled upon an inven- 
tion that restored proportion. Upsetting a spinning-wheel 
and observing it still moving, he caught the idea of an auto- 
matic arrangement of several spindles set in motion by one 
wheel. The spinning-jenny, as his machine was called, 
carried at first eight threads, then sixteen, twenty, one hun- 
dred and twenty, etc. At about the same time, Richard 
Arkwright secured a patent for a spinning-machine (the 
throstle) constructed on a different principle and spinning a 
harder, firmer thread than the jenny. The best features of 
the two machines were combined in the mule-jenny, pat- 
ented by Samuel Crompton in 1779. The new spinner has 
been improved till it now carries two thousand spindles and 
requires so little attention that the machines can be 
tended by children. These inventions gave a marvellous im- 
pulse to textile industry. The new machinery was used to 
great advantage in making up not only silk, wool, and flax, 
but the far more difficult fibre cotton. The manufacture of 
cotton had been regarded as impracticable in England, and 



Introduction of Textile Machinery 



469 



the importation of cotton cloth from the East was prohibited 
lest it should come into injurious competition with the 
native woollen goods. But Hargreaves's jenny spun a fine, 
strong thread that could be woven into the best cambric. 
Business enterprise caught at this new opportunity. Mills 
were built and machinery perfected, vast quantities of raw 
material ' were imported, and cotton cloth became one of the 




Arkwright's Spinning Machine of 1769 

From the original specification drawing. — Ure, Cotton Manufacture 

principal products of English industry. The zealous manu- 
facturers soon cast aside hand power as quite too slow for 
their purpose. Horse power and water power were utilized 
in turn. Einally Watt's steam engine furnished a motor, at Watt's 
once the most convenient and the most efficient. Cart- steam 
wright's 2 power- loom was invented in 1787 and was imme- 

1 The invention of the cotton-gin (1793) greatly reduced the cost of 
preparing the raw material. 

- These inventors were, with few exceptions, men of humble birth. Har- 
greaves was an ignorant weaver; Crompton, a spinner and a farmer's son ; 
Arkwright was a poor wig-maker ; Cartwright alone of the great inventors 
was a gentleman born. 



470 



The Industrial Revolution 



Cunning- 
ham, 



Cunning- 
ham, 
pp. 225, 226. 



In the manufac- 
held their own. 



Traill, V, 
604. 



Traill, V, 
591-598. 



Traill, VI, 

589-598. 



diately adopted in the cotton factories, 
ture of silk and wool the hand-looms 
however, for fifty years to come. 

The modern factory was the direct result of these inven- 
tions. The several processes, carding, spinning, weaving 
etc., could not long be carried on in scattered cottages, but 
must be brought together under one roof in order that the 
machinery might be run by the central motive power, 
whether steam or water. Great mills were built and the 
operatives were obliged to live in the immediate vicinity. 
Men gladly availed themselves of this new opportunity to 
earn a living. Evicted peasants from Ireland, English farm 
laborers deprived of work by improved methods of tillage, 
flocked to the factory centres in search of employment. 
People began to migrate from the country to the city, from 
the agricultural regions of the south to Yorkshire and Lanca- 
shire, where water power was abundant and stores of coal 
furnished an inexhaustible fuel. Great manufacturing towns 
grew up in districts sparsely inhabited hitherto, and the agri- 
cultural England of the Middle Ages was transformed into 
the manufacturing and mercantile England of the present 
day. The urban population increased from eighteen and a 
half per cent of the total in 181 1 to forty per cent in 1861 
and thirty-one per cent in 1901. 

Textile inventions gave Great Britain an immense supe- 
riority over her rivals in the cloth industry, and that advan- 
tage was jealously guarded. Severe penalties were imposed 
on the exportation of machinery. Even skilled operatives 
were forbidden to leave the kingdom, lest they carry abroad 
the knowledge of the new models and betray the secrets of 
the trade. For fifty years {circa 17 75-1 825) English manu- 
facturers enjoyed a practical monopoly of European and 
American markets and amassed wealth apace. 

Antagonism between Capital and Labor. — With the intro- 
duction of costly machinery, capital acquired an entirely 
new significance in industry. Labor had heretofore been 
the all-important element in production, but from the time 



Antagonism between Capital and Labor 471 

that money was required to build and furnish a mill, capital 
has played the principal part. The man who can bring to 
bear upon the new industrial opportunity not only a consid- 
erable fortune, but business ability and organizing genius, is 
easily master of the situation. 1 He directs the forces at his 
disposal as dexterously as a general manoeuvres his regiments 
and artillery. The laborer, on the other hand, has de- 




Sir Richard Arkwright 

scended to the position of a hired dependant. Working on 
materials and with machinery that belong to another, retain- 
ing no share in the product beyond his wages, he has no per- 
sonal concern for his work. The interests of employer and 
employed being diverse, have come frequently into direct 
conflict. Misunderstanding and distrust have grown into 

1 Early " captains of industry " were Sir Richard Arkwright, Sir Robert 
Peel, Robert Owen. 



472 



The Industrial Revolution 



Cunning- 
ham, 
pp. 226-230. 



Cunning- 
ham, 
pp. 214-219. 



a well-defined hostility. With the factory organization of 
industry began the modern antagonism between capital and 
labor. 

Displacement of Craftsmen. — The condition of the oper- 
atives in the first five decades of the factory system went far 
to justify this hostility. Machinery had rendered muscle 
and skill unnecessary. In the factory operative, who had 
but to overlook a self-impelled mechanism, the essential 
quality was patient, unremitting attention. Endurance was 
more important than strength or ingenuity. The craftsman 
suddenly found his labor a drug in the market, for unskilled 
laborers, women, the very children, could do the work re- 
quired as well as he. Women and children 1 were even 
preferred because they were more dexterous and docile. 
The effect was to reverse the relations of the home. Wives 
and children became the bread-winners, while grown men 
vainly sought employment or degenerated into contented 
idleness. 

It is true that new industries were being developed by 
the requirements of the factory. Machinery was to be 
constructed and mills built. Coal and iron must be sup- 
plied in increasing quantities. Railroads and steamship 
lines were needed to carry the products of English looms 
to distant markets. The factory era witnessed a marvel- 
lous expansion in all departments of industry j but the 
new opportunities fell to the succeeding generation. The 
spinners and weavers thrown out of work by inventions could 
not immediately secure employment as miners and machin- 
ists. The enlarged demand for labor might ultimately ab- 
sorb the whole labor supply, but it could not avert temporary 
distress. 

Deterioration of the Laborer. — Quite as serious as the 
displacement of skilled laborers was the effect of the inferior 
conditions of employment on the operatives. Machinery 
knows no fatigue. In order to get as much as possible out 

1 Of the 1,084,631 operatives in the textile factories (1890), 410,608 were 
women, 86,499 were children. 



Deterioration of the Laborer 473 

of his investment, the master .was tempted to work his em- 
ployees as long and hard as was humanly possible. Hours 
varied with the policy of the individual employer, but a 
fifteen-hour day was not thought excessive, and cases are 
recorded where operatives were regularly kept at work for 
eighteen hours out of the twenty-four. Motives of economy 
dictated that the mills should be cheaply built. Poor light, 
bad ventilation, defective drainage, were the rule. 

Conditions outside the factory were even more deplorable. 
People crowded into the factory towns far in excess of house 
accommodations. Huddled together in attics and cellars 1 
and hastily built tenements, they were forced to live under 
conditions that bred disease. The physique of the factory 
operative rapidly degenerated, while the death rate, markedly 
higher in manufacturing towns than elsewhere, told a sad tale 
of misery. 

In the first stages of this transformation, the suffering of 
the laboring classes was hardly noted. All energies were 
engaged in the accumulation of wealth, all attention was fixed 
upon the marvellous inventions by which production was 
multiplied a hundred-fold. Enormous fortunes were amassed 
in manufactures and trade, and the national wealth aug- 
mented by leaps and bounds. 2 The increase of population, 
then regarded as a sure index of prosperity, was not less 
marked. The population of Great Britain has been quin- 

1 In Manchester, one-tenth of the population lived in cellars. 



Vealth of G 


reat Britain 


in Million 


Pounds. 


1774 


£l,IOO 


1800 


I.740 


1812 


2,190 


1822 


2,600 


1833 


3.7SO 


1840 


4,100 


1865 


6,113 


1875 


8,584 


1885 


10,037 


1903 


15,000 



Popi 


llation. 


1780 


8,080,000 


1801 


15,717,287 


1811 


17,926,580 


1821 


20,893,684 


1831 


26,028,584 


1841 


26,709,456 


1851 


27.368,736 


1861 


28,974,362 


1871 


31,513,442 


1881 


35,241,482 


1891 


37.796,390 


1901 


41,605,323 



474 



The Industrial Revolution 



Traill, V, 
601-604. 



The 
Luddites. 



Cunning- 



tupled and her wealth multiplied by ten since the introduc- 
tion of textile machinery. 

Revolt of Labor. — The laborers, however, were not con- 
soled by the ultimate advantages of the use of machinery. 
They saw plainly enough that the immediate results were 
disastrous, and blindly thought to set the matter right by 
destroying their dangerous rival. Kay's fly-shuttle was so 
resented that the inventor was forced to flee the kingdom. 
Hargreaves's house was broken open and his spinning-jenny 
smashed in pieces. Arkwright's mill was wrecked by an 
infuriated mob, and Peel's factory at Altham suffered a simi- 
lar fate. Serious riots broke out among the silk-weavers at 
Spitalfields and Blackburn. In 181 1, a formidable insurrec- 
tion was set on foot by the hosiers of Nottingham. Form- 
ing themselves into secret associations, the mutinous laborers 
attacked the houses of the manufacturers and destroyed the 
dreaded knitting-frames. Such outbreaks of popular feeling 
were summarily suppressed as offences against public tran- 
quillity. 

The strike was a more rational method of resistance. 



ham, pp. 105, This, however, involved concerted action on the part of the 
laborers, and was hardly less incriminating than open vio- 
lence. 



Coalition 
Act, 1800. 



The manufacturers readily secured assistance from 
Parliament. The Coalition Act of 1800 reasserted the old- 
time prohibition against " covin and conspiracy." Any 
persons combining to advance the rate of wages, reduce the 
hours of labor, or in any manner coerce the masters of a 
trade, were condemned to jail and hard labor. Repressive 
legislation was, however, found to be of no avail. Secret as- 
sociations existed wherever laborers were congregated in the 
factory towns, and their methods were the more desperate 
because illegal. The policy of repression was, neverthe- 
less, maintained for twenty-five years. In 1824, Parliament 
appointed a commission to inquire into the effect of the 
Coalition Act. It was reported that " those laws had not 
only not been efficient to prevent combinations either of 
masters or workmen, but, on the contrary, had, in the opin- 



Revolt of Labor 475 

ion of many of both parties, a tendency to produce ^mutual 
irritation and distrust, and to give a violent character to he 
combinations, and to render them highly dangerous : to the 
peace of the community." The statute was therefore re- 
pealed. A sudden and marked increase m the number of R«P^ 
Likes induced this employers' Parliament to impose certain Act , l824 . 
r es,raints on trade societies in the following year, .tat £»• 
lute prohibitions never again attempted In the Trades 
Union \cts of 1S71 and 1876, such associations were given 
^1 For the pas', fifty years the nnions have had B^UV, 
a marked influence. They have accomplished a con- 4o6 6 . 

Iferable advance of wages/ and they have worked to 5,3,5,6.573. 
bring about a legal limitation on the hours of labor and a 574- 
prohibition of siich conditions in mine and workshop as 
militate against the well-being of the laborer. 

Factory Legislation.- The trades unions have not been 
alle in Iheir'endeavorto secure for the operates igher 
wa»es, shorter hours, and better conditions of labor. 
Throughout the nineteenth century the cause of the wort 
i„ g classes has been championed by P^*"* 1 ^ 
statesmen, who have thought it w.ser to protect the laborer 
tlst degrading conditions than to build hospitals and 
hnshouses B for th°e victims of the new order Fust to pro 
test against the injurious efforts of factory labor was Sir 
Robert Peel, who as prime minister called attenrionto the 
misery of the so-called apprentices - the children sent 
from the parish poor houses to be bound out to the maun- 
fTcturer, 1 The Act of ,8o 2 applied only to apprent.ed ^ 
children working in cotton and woollen mills. »"¥»£ 
that they should have suitable lodging, clothing, and in true 
ton • their working day was limited to twelve hours, between 
six in the morning and nine at night ; and the factory where 
they were employed was .0 be "lime-washed twice a year, 
and duly ventilated." 

The law was evaded by unscrupulous manufacturers, who 

1 Giffen estimates the average rise of wages ^^5 -ofS at 7 ° % " 
From 1882 to 1902 the gain has been 15%, accordmg to Bowley. 



476 



The Industrial Revolution 



had no difficulty in hiring free children from their needy 
parents and guardians. Owen and Peel pressed for farther 
legislation that should protect these no less unfortunate 
victims of machinery. A series of abortive measures pre- 
pared the way for the searching investigation conducted 
by the Factory Commission of 1833. The report revealed 
a state of things that roused the country to horrified protest. 
Children of tender years were employed for long hours 
and upon tasks beyond their strength. Robbed of sleep 
and healthful recreation, these toiling little ones fell an easy 
prey to diseases and deformities incident to the nature of 
their work. Deprived of opportunity for education, sub- 
jected to demoralizing influences, they rapidly degenerated 
into weakness, brutality, vice. England stood aghast at the 
evident degradation of her working classes. A vigorous 
effort was made in the interests of industrial freedom to 
prevent remedial legislation ; but the economists were over- 
borne by the weight of evidence against the " let alone " 
policy, and the eager advocates of national aggrandizement 
were silenced. The Act of 1833 forbade the employment 
in factories of children under nine years. Children between 
nine and thirteen years of age might be employed but eight 
hours a day, while no person under twenty-one years, and no 
woman, might be employed at night. Subsequent legislation 
provided schooling for factory children on the " half-time " 
system, 1 and provided that women and children might not 
be employed at the mines underground. 

In 1847, after a battle royal between the champions 
of protection and the advocates of free contract, the Ten 
Hours Act was passed, reducing to ten the number of 
hours in the working day for women and children. This 
practically meant a ten-hour day for all factory employees, 
since the men could not profitably be kept at work after 
their nimble assistants were withdrawn. The factory legis- 
lation of the last few years has extended the blessings of 
protection to every factory and workshop where women 

1 Children required to be in school on alternate days or half-days. 



Transportation 477 

and children are employed. Safe and wholesome condi- 
tions of work are secured by minute requirements as to 
ventilation and drainage, and the guarding of machinery. 
Recent legislation renders the employer liable to damage 
in case of accident for which he can reasonably be held 
responsible. Municipalities have undertaken the condem- 
nation of unsanitary dwellings, and the building of model 
dwellings and tenements in the working-class quarters. 
Thus England has led the way, not only in the invention of 
machinery and in the production of goods for the world's 
markets, but in legislation designed to secure to the laborer 
fair living and working conditions. 

Transportation. — The marvellous industrial development Traill, V, 
of Great Britain has been greatly furthered by improvement 3 22 -3 20 - 
in the means of transportation. Much had been done for Forbes and 
trade in the eighteenth century by the bettering of post- our Water- 
roads and the building of canals, but the introduction of ways, Ch. 
steam as a motor was reserved to the present era. One vu > VIIL 
William Symington, a Scotch engineer, adapted Watt's in- 
vention to the turning of paddle-wheels, and patented a 
steamboat in 1801. His model, the Charlotte Dundas, 
made a trial trip on the Forth and Clyde Canal, but was 
abandoned as impractical. The Comet, the first passenger 
steamer built in Europe, was launched on the Clyde in 
181 2, five years after Fulton's Clermont made her way up 
the Hudson. The first sea-going steamer sailed from Glas- Traill, vi, 
gow to Belfast in 18 18. The Great Western crossed the 392-404- 
Atlantic in 1838, and the Cunard line was established in 
1840. The Peninsular and Oriental Company sent steamers 
to India in the same year. Steamships cost more than 
sailing-vessels, but they have many times the carrying 
capacity and are so much swifter and surer that they 
have well-nigh monopolized the great trade routes. 
Thus New York was brought within two weeks of Liver- 
pool, Calcutta within six weeks of London, and English 
goods were carried to these ports at half the former 
rates. 



478 



The Industrial Revolution 



The enterprise of English shipbuilders and merchants 
has secured the lion's share of the world's commerce. In 
1892 more than half (56%) the carrying trade of civilized 
nations was in British vessels. 

The steam-engine was not successfully used in land trans- 
portation until 1825, when Stephenson's first locomotive, 
the Rocket, made her trial trip on the Stockton and Dar- 




Trent and Mersey Canal, in the Potteries 



lington Railway. The transcendent importance of this in- 
vention was not recognized until ten years later, and then a 
mania for railroad building set in. Every manufacturing 
centre was soon connected with its nearest port, while the 
Scotch Highlands and the Welsh mountains were brought 
within reach of the pleasure-seeking world. Great Britain 
now boasts a higher railway mileage, 1 in proportion to area, 
than any country on the globe. 

l There were 22,435 miles of railway in the British Isles in 1903. Two- 
thirds of this was in England. 



48o 



The Industrial Revolution 



The advantages of the improved means of locomotion were 
soon apparent in the development of trade. Railway freight- 
age has increased fifty-fold in the past forty years. The self- 
supporting village community is not to be found in nineteenth- 
century England. All producers send their goods to the 




The Rocket 
From Smiles, Life of George Stefh 



general markets, from which they are supplied in turn with 
the commodities that they cannot produce so cheaply. The 
amount of travel has increased ten- fold. 1 The chance to see 
the world, limited to the wealthy few in the days of the stage- 
coach, is now within the reach of day laborers. By stage, a 
man travelled nine miles an hour at a cost of ten cents a 

1 The average Englishman travelled thirteen miles in 1836, one hundred 
and fifty miles in 1886. 



Mining 48 1 

mile. By train, he accomplishes forty miles an hour at one- 
fifth the cost. 

Mining. — Railways and steamships have meant an enor- 
mous increase in the demand for iron and coal. From the Traill, V, 
sixteenth century, iron had been smelted in Sussex and the ^ II ~S I 7- 
Forest of Dean, but the industry languished for lack of fuel. 1 
The inventive genius of England was brought to bear upon 
this problem. Abraham Darby showed the smelters how Traill, v, 
to fire their furnaces with pit-coal, Watt's steam engine 459-468. 
was utilized to drive the machinery, and a hundred other 
inventions brought the modern rolling-mill to perfection. 
The subterranean riches of the midland counties were 
then speedily opened up. Wealth and population have 
gravitated to this new industrial opportunity, transforming 
South Wales and the " black country " into the richest and 
the ugliest districts in the United Kingdom. Great Britain 
now produces more than one-third the world's supply of 
coal and nearly one-fifth its iron. 2 

This great success has not been achieved without some Traill, VI, 
loss. The conditions of mining, in the coal mines espe- 3 6 7-377- 
daily, must always be difficult and dangerous. During the 
period when more attention was given to profits than to Mines Act, 
human welfare, women and children were employed in the l843 * 
mines at tasks ruinous to health and morals. Parliamentary 
investigation brought facts to light that induced legislation 
prohibiting the employment of women and children below the 
surface. Later legislation has required safety lamps, ventilat- 
ing apparatus, and all reasonable precaution against danger, 
but human foresight cannot prevent frightful accidents. 

The Miners' Federation has fought successfully for a 
shorter working day and a " living wage." The great strike 
of 1893 was occasioned by a proposed reduction of 25% in 

1 Production fell to 17,350 tons in 1740. 

2 Production of coal in 1904 : Great Britain, 236,247,000 tons ; United 
States, 318,275,000 tons; all countries, 866,104,000 tons. Production of 
pig-iron, 1904: Great Britain, 8,699,000 tons; United States, 16,760,000 
tons; all countries, 46,058,000 tons. 

2 I 



482 



The Industrial Revolution 



Traill, V, 
301-305. 



Traill, V, 

452-459- 



the rate determined by the settlement of five years previous. 
Some three hundred thousand coal miners struck work in 
July, 1893, and held to their purpose until the mine-owners 
were ready to make concessions. The dispute was finally 
arbitrated under government auspices, and the men secured 
a restoration of the established rate. The eight-hour day is 
the rule in several mining districts, and the proposition 
for a legal limitation is likely soon to become law. 

Agricultural Revolution. — The development of manu- 
factures, mining, and commerce has been accompanied by 
a decline in agriculture. During the eighteenth century 
and the first half of the nineteenth, legislation had tended 
to foster the interests of the great landowners who con- 
trolled both Houses of Parliament, at the expense of the 
small proprietors and the community at large. The Corn 
Laws, vigorously maintained from 1689 to 1846, imposed 
heavy duties on imported grains, and gave the English pro- 
ducers practical monopoly of the home market. At the same 
time, a series of enclosure acts facilitated the transfer of the 
coveted privilege of land-ownership from the small holders to 
a few wealthy men. A movement toward enclosure, such as 
had transformed the face of Tudor England, characterized 
the Georgian period. This second great onslaught on 
peasant holdings was due, not to the demand for pasture 
land, but to improved methods of tillage. Scientific agricul- 
ture, eloquently advocated by such men as Arthur Young, 
had become the fashion among English landlords. Assidu- 
ous attention was given to stock-raising. Clover and rich 
grasses were introduced and better breeds of cattle. To 
the arable land, marl and other manures were applied, 
while methods of cultivation were carefully studied. The 
open field system, with its numerous proprietors and cum- 
bersome regulations, was generally abandoned. The land 
was redistributed in such fashion that each man who could 
justify his title received his share in a single plot which 
could be cultivated to much better advantage than the 
scattered holdings of the old-time tenure. The common 



Agricultural Revolution 483 

land was usually appropriated by the landlord. These and 
other improvements so increased the productive power of 
the soil that wheat lands began to yield twenty and thirty 
bushels to the acre, four times the thirteenth-century 
average. The weight of sheep and cattle was raised in the 
same proportion. 

The progress of enclosure was accelerated by a new 
demand for land. Merchants, grown suddenly rich in the 
East India trade, and clothiers, who had amassed fortunes The nabobs 
in manufacture, were eager to buy country estates and to 
secure a place among the landed gentry. Under the spur 
of rising prices the zeal for enclosing overcame all obstacles. 
Between 1710 and 1760, 334,974 acres were enclosed, while 
the land so redistributed from 1760 to 1830 amounted Traill, VI, 
to nearly seven million acres. 1 The enclosure acts were 75- 8 3- 
framed by a Parliament made up of landowners who gave 
but slight consideration to the rights of tenants and free- 
holders. Unable to defend themselves against their power- 
ful neighbors, small proprietors yielded, not without protest, 
to unjust encroachment, or finding that they could not 
compete in the same market with the new cultivators, sold 
their little holdings and dropped to the rank of the farm 
laborer. 

Wheat was produced at less cost on the large estates, but 

England lost much in the process. Even Arthur Young Disappear- 

laments the disappearance of the freeholders. The stal- ance of the 

, , , , . . _ .. yeoman, 

wart yeomen who had been the main support of Cromwell 

and the Puritan Revolution were hardly to be found in 
England at the close of the eighteenth century. They had 
been driven from the land to make room for improved 
agriculture under the tenant-farmer. 

Here, too, invention played its part in furthering an in- 
dustrial transformation. The introduction of agricultural 

1 In the second period, four thousand enclosure acts were passed affect- 
ing four thousand out of the ten thousand parishes in England. The trans- 
formation was most complete in the southern and eastern counties. In 
Cumberland and the West Riding of Yorkshire, in Scotland, Wales, and 
Ireland, the small holdings still persist. 



4 8 4 



The Industrial Revolution 



Cunning- 
ham, 

pp. 185-193. 

Cunning- 
ham, 
pp. 195-197- 

Traill, VI, 
211-216. 

Traill, VI, 
404-420. 

Traill, VI, 
599-606. 



Cunning- 
ham, 
pp. 231-233. 



machinery gave the wealthy landowner an advantage in 
production comparable to that of the capitalist manufac- 
turer. Science, machinery, and the tendency to great estates 
combined to bring about the agricultural revolution. 

Decline of Agriculture. — The repeal of the Corn Law 
(1846) was carried through against the protest of the landed 
aristocracy, who dreaded the reduction in rents that must 
follow the fall in the price of grain. The disaster did not 
arrive so soon as anticipated. After the tariff was removed 
the English farmer had still the advantage of being near his 
customer, while his competitors in Russia, America, and Aus- 
tralia must send their products over-sea. With 1874, how- 
ever, a series of bad seasons set in, when corn rotted in the 
furrow and cattle perished of disease. At the same time, 
improved facilities for ocean carriage brought grain and 
refrigerated beef to the English markets at a fraction of 
former rates. This meant cheap and abundant food, but it 
rendered agriculture unprofitable on all but the richest lands. 
In the poorer districts, proprietors were obliged to reduce 
their rents by half. Even so, many farmers abandoned the 
attempt to make two ends meet, fields were converted into 
pasture, 1 and laborers were thrown out of employment. 2 
It is not strange that to-day the agricultural interest clamors 
for the revival of protection. 

The Farm Laborers. — Work in the fields does not stand 
in such need of protective legislation as factory labor. The 
hours are long during the summer season, and the tasks 
often severe, but there is plenty of fresh air and wholesome 
exercise. Women and children at work in the fields suffer 
under no such physical disadvantages as the factory opera- 
tive, but the engrossing nature of the employment leaves 
little time for schooling or for home life. Exhaustive in- 
quiries have made evident that the ignorance and brutality 



1 Three million acres were converted to pasture in the two decades from 
1867 to 1887. 

2 Number of farm laborers in England and Wales : 1871, 996,642; 1881. 
890,174; 1891, 798,912. 



The Agricultural Union 485 

of the rural population are in large part due to the condi- Report of 
tions of agricultural labor. Parliamen- 

Parliament has done something toward meeting this de- ^iJ si0 n™of 
mand. In 1867, a law was passed regulating the employment 1843 and 
of women and children in gangs. Every gang-master must l8 73- 
be licensed, no child under eight years may be hired, women 
are not allowed to go to the field in the same gangs with men, 
and the distance the laborers may be obliged to walk is 
limited. The Agricultural Children's Act, 1873, was repealed 
almost as soon as passed, but the requirement of school 
attendance to the age of thirteen insures a primary educa- 
tion to the children, and various efforts in the direction of 
sanitary dwellings have rendered living conditions more 
tolerable. 

The Agricultural Union. — The greatest obstacle to the 
advancement of the agricultural labor, viz. inadequate earn- 
ings, might not be so easily overcome. Able-bodied men 
were customarily paid seven, nine, and eleven shillings 
a week, a sum that left little opportunity for saving 
after living expenses were paid. Among men so scat- 
tered and so ignorant, cooperative effort was difficult, but 
a trade union of agricultural laborers was attempted. In 
1872, Joseph Arch, a hedger of Warwickshire, set on Joseph 
foot a movement to demand shorter hours and better pay. Arcn - 
The farm laborers of Suffolk struck for higher wages in 
the summer of that year, and though they did not obtain 
all they asked, they succeeded in impressing the farmers 
with the wisdom of avoiding another such demonstration 
by timely concessions. The wages paid for field work 
are still lower than in any other employment, and the 
more ambitious men go to the towns in search of higher 
earnings. 

The rural population soon found champions among the 
Liberal leaders. The extension of the ,£10 householder 
suffrage to the rural districts (1884) gave the agricultural 
laborer his first opportunity to influence legislation. The 
additional vote (870,000) was twice that of the landlords 



1892. 



486 The Industrial Revolution 

and farmers combined. Joseph Arch was sent to the House 
of Commons, and strong pressure was brought to bear upon 
that body by the newly enfranchised. Sir Charles Dilke and 
Small Hold- Jesse Collings urged that every laborer be put in possession 
ings Act, Q f ] anc j enoU gh to provide his family with food. The Small 
Agricultural Holdings Act (1892) enabled laborers to pur- 
chase plots of land large enough for market gardening or 
small farming. The county councils were empowered to buy 
estates and divide them into small tracts for sale or rent and 
to loan capital at low rates of interest to enable men to 
build on their land. The law was revised in 1906 in the 
direction of affording more generous terms to would-be pur- 
chasers. The Campbell-Bannerman Ministry has offered a 
thousand-acre tract of crown land to actual cultivators in 
small allotments. If this policy is consistently pursued, 
England may once more become a country of peasant 
proprietors. 

Pauperism. — Any review of the social and industrial con- 
ditions of modern England would be incomplete without 
some notice of the growth of pauperism and the efforts made 
to check this menace to the nation's health. The industrial 
upheaval of the past hundred years has been attended by 
results both good and bad. An immense gain in material 
wealth has been achieved at the expense of the well-being 
of the laborers immediately concerned. Improved farming, 
no less than machinery, has deprived thousands of the means 
of self-support and driven them to seek aid at the hands of 
parish officers or private almsgivers. 1 From 1750 to 1820, 
the years in which the factory system was becoming estab- 
lished and enclosures were being made, the growth of 
pauperism was appalling. The poor-rate augmented till it 

1 Poor-rate per head of population : — 

1818 . . . 13.J. 4d. 
1820 . . . I2J. 2d. 

1830 ... gs. gd. 

****** 
1S90 . . 5 s. gd. 



1750 


2J. 


2d. 


1760 


3*- 




1770 


3*. 


6d. 


1780 


4s. 


5* 


1790 


5 s - 


in/. 


1800 


8s. 


5* 


1810 


IOS. 


3d. 



Pauperism 487 

reached the alarming proportions of one-fourth the national 
revenue, and the burden on the taxpayer was intolerable. 

The phenomenal increase in the number of paupers was 
due in part to unwise methods of relief, in part to the 
disturbing effects of the Napoleonic wars, in part to the 
mischievous corn laws that not infrequently raised the price 
of bread to famine rates ; but the main cause was the indus- 
trial change that rendered opportunity for employment un- 
certain and left laborers dependent on precarious wages. 
Parliament undertook to reduce poverty by the regulation of Poor Law of 
out-door relief, and the enforcement of the work-test for the l834< 
able-bodied. The burden of the poor-rate is now but one- 
third of what it was in 1834, and the number of paupers has 
been greatly reduced, but there is still the problem of the 
unemployed. In the winters of 1904 and 1905, London wit- 
nessed such monster demonstrations as had occurred in 1848 
and in 1887, and the government could offer no solution. 

The unemployed problem is not peculiar to England, but 
the chronic difficulty has been aggravated there by general 
industrial depression. The cotton famines of 1863 and 1902, 
the loss of foreign markets consequent on American and 
German competition, burdensome taxation entailed by the 
Boer war and other minor causes have checked business 
enterprises along many lines and thrown thousands of men 
and women out of work. The number of bona fide laborers 
now unemployed is estimated at four per cent of the total 
industrial army. The figure seems insignificant, but the 
proportion has steadily increased since 1900, and one 
twenty-fifth of the would-be wage-earners is never a negligible 
quantity. Tramps infest the rural districts and in the towns 
pauperism * is everywhere on the increase. 

There is no single solution of the problem. Compara- 
tively few of the unemployed could work land to advantage 
even if put in full possession. The Salvation Army on its 
farm colonies is endeavoring to fit men for agriculture and 

l The sum annually expended in poor relief (^15,256,000) is greater than 
that spent for primary schools (^13,351,000). 



488 The Industrial Revolution 

sends 30,000 emigrants to Canada each year. The Bureau 
of Emigration is assisting unemployed artisans to remove 
to Canada, South Africa, and other British colonies where 
there is dearth of laborers. The Liberal ministry may 
adopt John Burns's suggestion and undertake extensive gov- 
ernment works for the sake of furnishing employment to 
superfluous wage-earners. Mother England seems unable to 
provide for all her children and is fain to send them abroad 
in search of bread. 



INDEX 



Aberdeen, 431. 

Aborigines, 11. 

Acadia, settlement of, 278. 

Act, Agricultural Children's, 1873, 
485; Agricultural Holdings, 443; 
Agricultural Land Rating, 453; 
Coalition, 1783, 405; 1800, 474; 
Coal Mines Regulation, 453; 
Conventicle, 335; Corporation, 
334; Elementary Education, 435; 
Enclosure, 482 ; Factory, 426, 476; 
Five Mile, 336; Irish Land, 430, 
444; Labourers' Dwellings, 443; 
Land Purchase, 447; Licensing, 
1695,369; Local Government for 
Ireland, 447, 451; Navigation, 
327, 356; Occasional Conformity, 
326; Reform, 1832, 423, 424; 
Reform, 1867, 435; Reform, 1884, 
444; Regulating, 408; Schism, 
376; Septennial, 37S; Small 
Agricultural Holdings, 486; Small 
Dwellings Acquisition, 453 ; 
Stamp, 401; Ten Hours, 476; 
Test, 152, 256, 289; Test, 1673, 
341, 349, 35°. 444', Trades 
Union, 475; Triennial, 309, 370, 
378; Workmen's Compensation 
for Accident, 453. 

Act of, Amnesty, 233'j Attainder, 
365; Habeas Corpus, 345, 410; 
Security, 374; Settlement, 364, 
365, 370; Succession, 233; Su- 
premacy, 230, 233, 248, 279, 290; 
the Six Articles, 234, 237; Tol- 
eration, 329, 364; Uniformity, the, 
248, 256, 334, 338; Union, 374, 
4i4, 437- 

Addington, 415. 

/Ella and Cissa, 30. 



Africa, 405, 409, 441. 

Agincourt, battle of, 193. 

Agricola, 21. 

Agricultural Children's Act, 1873, 
485- 

Agricultural Holdings Act, 443; 
Small, 486. 

Agricultural Land Rating Act, 453. 

Aix-la-Chapelle, treaty of, 393, 394. 

Alexandria, battle of, 412. 

Alfred, 40; work of, for govern- 
ment, 44, 45; for literature, 45- 
47; for industry, 47. 

Ameiica, 269, 2S0, 327, 336-337; 
37 1 . 392, 394, 39 8 ; alienation of 
colonies, 399, 402; review of colo- 
nial affairs, 390; right of taxa-% 
tion, 400; independence, 403; 
effect of Napoleonic wars, 417; 
War of 1 81 2, 417; Irish party in, 
438. 

Amiens, peace of, 412, 414. 

Angles, 28. 

Anglo-Saxon civilization, 50-53 ; ag- 
riculture, 50; manufactures, 51; 
trade, 52 ; political organization, 

S3- 
Anne Boleyn, 225, 232, 233. 
Anne of Cleves, 235. 
Anne, Queen, 371, 376. 
Antigua, acquisition of, 295. 
Arch, Joseph, 485. 
Architecture, under Normans, 84; 

to death of Edward I, 145; in 

sixteenth century, 281. 
Argyle, Earl of, 348. 
Arkwright, Richard, 467, 471, 

474- 
Armada, the, 260. 
Armenia, 453, 454. 



489 



490 



Index 



Army, Folk-moot, ■$$; Alfred's, 41; 
William ll's, 76; progression of, 
106; petition of right. 299; Crom- 
well's, 314; "New Model," 315, 
318, 321; military rule, 326; 
counterpoised by navy, 327; cost, 
328; in power, 328; disband- 
ment, 334; under Charles II, 339; 
Test Act, 341, 349; Irish army, 
364, 412; use of bayonet, 366; 
reduction, 370; Hanoverians in 
army, 392; Highland regiment, 
393; reorganized by Pitt, 395; 
against Napoleon, 412; volun- 
teers, 415; condition in Crimean 
War, 431; abclition of bought 
commissions, 440. 

Arthur, 30. 

Ashley. See Shaftesbury, 339, 342. 

Aske, Robert, 234. 

Assiento Grant, the, 375, 379, 
382. 

Assingdun, battle of, 63. 

Assize of Clarendon, 98. 

Atbara, battle of, 455. 

Augustine in Britain, 33. 

Australia, 409, 459. 

Austrian Succession, war of, 392, 
394, 395- 

Babington's plot, 259. 

Bacon, Lord, 295, 354. 

Bacon, Roger, 126, 284. 

Balfour, 452, 460. 

Balliol, John, 139. 

Bank of England, 369 n., 421. 

Bannockburn, battle of, 153. 

Baptists, 335. 

Barbadoes, acquisition of, 295. 

Barbaric invasions, 26 

Barnet, battle of, 201. 

Barons, War, the, 126, 130; revolt 

of, 103 
Beaconsfield. See Disraeli. 
Beaufort, Bishop, 194. 
Bechuanaland, 445. 
Becket, Thomas a, 97, 99, 101, 

232 n. 
Bedford, dukes of, 194, 398. 
Beit, Alfred, 256. 
Berlin Decree, 415; Congress, 441. 



Bible, translated by Wiclif, 175; by 
Coverdale, 232; King James', 

3°3 n - 

Bill of Attainder, 235 n., 308. 

Bill of Rights, 329, 364. 

Bishops, Trial of the Seven, 351. 

Black Death, the, 159, 180, 204. 

"Black Hole" of Calcutta, 396. 

Black Prince, the, 160. 

Blake, Admiral, 327, 328. ^^^. 

Blenheim, battle of, 372. 

Bloody Assizes, 348. 

Board of Control, 408. 

Boers, 445. 

Boer War, 456. 

Bolingbroke, Henry, Duke of Here- 
ford, 166. 

Bolingbroke, Lord, 376, 378, 382; 
his Patriot King, 397. 

Bonner, Bishop, 238. 

Bosworth Field, battle of, 203, 
213. 

Botha, General, 462. 

Bothwell, Earl of, 252. 

Bouvines, battle of, 121. 

Boxer Rising, 454. 

Boyne, battle of the, 365. 

Breda, Declaration of, 330, ^^'t 
peace of, 337, 356. 

Bretigny, peace of, 160. 

Bretwalda, 37. 

Bright, John, 434, 447. 

British Columbia, 487. 

British Isles, the, area and popula- 
tion of, 1 ; relation to Europe of, 2 ; 
commercial advantages of, 3 ; navi- 
gable rivers of, 3; climate of, 4; 
industrial wealth of, 4; physical 
endowment of, 4; political divi- 
sions of, 5; relation of industrial 
opportunity to population in, 10; 
Aborigines of, 11, 12; first inter- 
course between the continent and, 
16; Roman conquest of, 19; ex- 
tent of the Roman province in, 21 ; 
character of Roman rule in, 22; 
Barbarian invasions of, 26; Saxon 
conquest of, and its effects, 28-32. 
See England, Ireland, Scotland, 
Wales. 

Bruce, Robert, 144, 153. 



Inde 



49 1 



Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke 

of, 291, 295, 296, 299. 
Bulgaria, 441, 442. 
Bunyan, 330, 354. 
Burgh, Hubert de, 123, 127, 129. 
Burke, Edmund, 385, 401, 404, 408, 

409; his Reflections on the French 

Revolution, 410. 
Burleigh, William Cecil, Lord, 248, 

256. 
Burns, 422. 
Burns, John, 449. 
Bute, Lord, 398, 399. 
Butler, Bishop, 386. 
Butt, Isaac, 443. 
Byron, 422. 

Cabal, the, 339, 342. 
Cabots, the, 276, 27S. 
Cade, Jack, 198. 
Calvin, John, 244. ' 
Campbell-Bannerman, 460, 461, 

463, 486. 
Camperdown, battle of, 411. 
Canada, 278, 395, 409, 459, 488. 
Canals, 477. 
Canute, 62, 63. 
Cape Colony, 444. 
Cape of Good Hope, 390, 444, 417. 
Cape Vincent, battle of, 411. 
Carolinas settled, 356. 
Carteret, 392. 
Cartwright, 469. 
Catharine of Aragon, 224, 230, 233, 

242. 
Cavaliers, 310. 
Caxton, William, 209. 
Cecil, Robert, 291. 
Celts, the, 13; first settlements, 17; 

conquered, 49. 
Cerdic, 30, 44. 

Chamberlain, Joseph, 447, 452, 458. 
Charles I, 292, 295, 320. 
Charles II, 321, 329, 332, 347. 
Charles Edward, Prince, 393. 
Charter, the Great, 109, 117, 121, 

123, 128; renewal of, 142. 
Charters, confirmation of, 142, 15T, 

298. 
Chartists, 426, 429, 444. 
Chatham, Earl of. See Pitt. 



Chatham-Grafton Ministry, the, 
401. 

Chaucer, Gecffrey, 167. 

Christian Brethren, 228. 

Christianity, introduction of, in Eng- 
land, 33 . 

Church, in Great Britain, first tri- 
umph of the Christian, ^^; of the 
Saxon kingdoms, organized, 35, 
36; conversion of the Danes, 59, 
60; relation to the state under the 
Norman kings, 83-86; quarrel 
with Henry II, 98-101; quarrel 
with John, 11S-120; the Friar 
Movement, 124-127; Edward I 
and the, 142; wealth and corrup- 
tion of, fourteenth century, 170- 
172 ; Wiclif and the reform move- 
ment, 173-175; Lollardism, 176; 
the corruption of, in the fifteenth 
century, 204; Protestant reforma- 
tion, 226-228; attack on the 
monasteries, 230; Act of Suprem- 
acy, 230; progress in doctrinal re- 
form, 232; Forty-two Articles, 
239 ; persecution of the Protes- 
tant, 243; Test Act, 256; eccle- 
siastical policy of Elizabeth, 248, 
254, 256, 263; independent sect 
in, 264; James I and the, 287; 
Hampton Court Conference, 288, 
303; Commons and, 299; Laud, 
302; the question in 1641, 308; 
the Covenant, 313; Charles and, 
334; trial of the seven bishops, 
351; William III and the revolu- 
tion settlement, 363; the Metho- 
dist revival, 385; political in- 
fluence on preferment, 402; the 
Irish, 412, 446. 

Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, 
368, 371, 372, 373. 

Churchill, Lord Randolph, 445. 

Churchill, Winston, 461. 

Cinque Ports, 274. 

Civil war, 155, 311; second civil war, 
320. 

Claim of Right, the, 366. 

Clarendon, Constitutions of, 100. 

Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of, 
333, 337- 



492 



Index 



Clarence, Duke of, ig8. 

Claudius, invasion under, 19. 

Clive, Robert, 396, 420. 

Coalition Act, 474. 

Coalition, the, of 1783, 405; of 1800, 
474- 

Coalition Cabinet, 445. 

Coal Mines Regulation Act, 453. 

Cobbett, 422; his Weekly Political 
Register, 422. 

Colonial enterprises, 2Q5; their 
early character, 296; rivalry with 
Spain and Holland, 355; policy 
of the eighteenth century, 399, 
400; new policy of, 409 ; rivals in, 

355-357- 

Colonies, 278, 336, 371, 375, 379; 
Ceylon and Trinidad retained, 
412; acquisitions from Napo- 
leonic wars, 417; India, 442; 
Australia, 459; Africa, 441; im- 
perial federation, 458. 

Commerce, advantages of England 
for, 3-4; principal harbors for, 3; 
Phoenician trading, 16: Saxon, 52; 
Norman revival of, 80; Angevin 
expansion of, 94, in, 113; inter- 
ference of war with, 209; Tudor 
supremacy in, 268; Tudor explo- 
ration and, 276; Navigation Act, 
327; depression of, under Charles 
II, 337; review, 354-355"- uni on 
with Scotland, 374: South Sea 
Bubble, 379; colonial expansion, 
381 ; free trade with France, 407; 
with Ireland, 414; Berlin decree, 
415; benefit from Napoleonic 
wars, 417; fictitious prosperity, 
421; free trade, 458; transpor- 
tation, 477; imperial policy and 
"the open door," 495. 

Commonwealth, the, 321, 329. 

Conservative party, 426. 

Constantine, 26. 

Conventicle Act, 335. 

Coote, 396. 

Copenhagen, battle of, 412. 

Corn laws, 421; repealed, 428; ef- 
fects of, 437, 484, 485. 

Cornwallis, Lord, 409. 

Corporation Act, 334, 335, 350. 



Council of Trent, 245. 
"Count of the Saxon Shore," 26. 
Counter-Reformation, the, 246. 
Court of Common Pleas, 133. 
Court of High Commission, 263, 

304, 308. 
Courtenay, Bishop, 174. 
Covenanters, 250, 306, 345. 
Cranmer, Archbishop, 230, 238, 239, 

241, 243- 
Crecy, battle of, 157, 193. 
Crete, 454. 
Crimean War, 431. 
Cromer, Lord, 455, 457. 
Crompton, Samuel, 46S. 
Cromwell, Oliver, 310, 314, 321, 

328, 333. 35 6 - 
Cromwell, Richard, 329. 
Cromwell, Thomas, 229, 233, 235. 
Crusades, 3, 107. 
Cuba, 398. 

Culloden, battle of, 390. 
Cumberland, Duke of, 393. 
Curia Regis, 73, 97, 100. 
Customs duties, 25, 151, 291, 299, 

380, 407, 428, 484; free trade, 

458. 
Cymric, 30. 
Cyprus, acquisition of, 442. 

Danby, Earl of, 342. 

Danegeld, 62, 74. 

Danelagh, 41, 69. 

Danes, the, or Northmen, 37, 41; 
migrations of, 56; settlements of, 
in Normandy, 57 ; in England, 60- 

63. 7°- 
Darby, Abraham, 481. 
Darnley, Lord Henry, 252. 
David, 136. 
Declaration of Indulgence, 340-341, 

349, 351- 
Declaration of Rights, 354, 364. 
Derby, Lord, 435. 
Dettingen, battle of, 392. 
Diarmit, King, 102. 
Disabling Act, 344. 
Disraeli, 433, 435, 438, 441, 442. 
Domesday Survey, 73, 86, 89, 90. 
Dominica, battle off, 405. 
Dover, treaty of, 340, 356. 



Index 



493 



Downs, battle of the, 336. 
Drake, Sir Francis, 278. 
"Duke of the Britons," 26. 
Dunbar, battles of, 140, 323. 
Dunning's Resolution, 404. 
Dunstan, Archbishop, 49. 

Ealdormen, 60. 

East India Company, 277, 391, 432. 

Ecclesiastical Unity, attainment of, 

35- 

Edgar, 49. 

Edgehill, battle of, 313. 

Edinburgh, treaty of, 251. 

Edmund Ironside, 63. 

Edric, 63. 

Education, Alfred's schools, 46; 
intellectual advances, 82; uni- 
versities, no; friars, 126; Eng- 
lish used in schools, 167; Eton 
founded, 209; the new learning 
of the Tudors, 283; founding of 
grammar schools, 283; Act of 
Uniformity, 334; Schism Act, 
376; board schools, 435; reli- 
gious tests abolished in universi- 
ties, 439; for factory children, 
476. 

Edward the Confessor, 64. 

Edward the Elder, 47, 49. 

Edward I, 132, 144. 

Edward II, 152 ; civil war and abdi- 
cation, 155. 

Edward III, 156; French wars, 156. 

Edward IV, 201, 209. 

Edward VI, 236. 

Edward VII, 457. 

Edwin, 23- 

Egypt, 412; Egyptian Question, 

445. 45 6 - 

Election petitions, 382. 

Elector Palatine, 292, 294. 

Eliot, Sir John, 291, 297, 300. 

Elizabeth, Queen, 240, 242, 244, 265. 

Enclosure, 482. 

England, facilities for commerce, 3 ; 
industrial divisions of, 6; early 
inhabitants, n-18; Roman rule 
of, 19-26; Saxon conquest and its 
effects on, 28-35; Danish rule in, 
60-63; Norman conquest of, 67; 



results of, 82; development of, 
under the early Angevins, 94-1 1 1 ; 
organization of the judiciary. 132 ; 
intellectual revival during the four- 
teenth century in, 166; industrial 
progress, 176; wages, 181, 207; 
the people, 206; - intellectual de- 
cadence in the fifteenth century, 
209; age of transition, 213; finan- 
cial measures, 217; foreign policy 
under Henry VII, 218; arbiter of 
Europe, 224; position at time of 
Elizabeth, 246; foreign affairs 
under Elizabeth, 253 ; transforma- 
tion of England under the Tudors, 
268; agricultural revolution, 271; 
decay of towns, 272; growth of 
manufactures, 273; Tudor explo- 
ration and commerce, 276; change 
in order of society, 279; social 
habits, 281 ; beginning of maritime 
supremacy, 327; union with Scot- 
land, 374; union with Ireland, 
412; Colonial undertakings, 399; 
Imperial policy, 409; Eastern 
Question, 430; local government, 
447; Socialism, 457; canals, 477; 
transportation, 477; agricultural 
rev< lution,482. See British Isles, 
Scotland, Ireland. 

Essex, earls of, 263, 313, 315. 

Etheln«da, 47, 49. 

Ethelred the Unready, 60. 

Ethelwulf, 40. 

Europe, relation of British Isles 
to, 2. 

Evesham, battle of, 132. 

Exchequer, the, 133. 

Exclusion Bill, 344, 346. 

Factory Acts, 426, 476. 

Falkirk, battle of, 144. 

Falkland, 311. 

Fashoda, 445, 455. 

Fawkes, Guy, 289. 

Fenians, 438. 

Feudal system inaugurated, 72; ap- 
plied to the church, 85 ; last feudal 
rising, 104; destroyed as a system 
of government, 106; killed by 
statute of Quia Emptores, 133; 



494 



Index 



reversion to, 206, 292; dues abol- 
ished, 334. 

Field of the Cloth of Gold, 223. 

Filmer, 354. 

Finance: Industrial Wealth, 4; 
Coinage, 81 ; The Domesday Sur- 
vey. 73. 86 > 8 9> 9°; Measures, 
Policies, or Conditions of, during 
successive reigns: — Henry II, 
104; Richard I, 109; John, 122; 
Henry III, 127; Edward I, 133, 
149; Edward II, 153, 159; Richard 
II, 164, 172, 181; Henry IV, 188; 
Edward IV, 202; Henry VII, 
218-220; Henry VIII, 226, 239; 
Elizabeth, 264, 279-281 ; James I, 
290, 292, 294; Charles I, 296, 300, 
303, 311; Cromwell, 325; Charles 
II, 334; William III, 363; George 
I, 379; George III, 392, 399, 403; 
French pension, 340, 342, 348; 
National Debt, 369; South Sea 
Bubble, 379; Walpole, 380; 
Pitt the younger, 407; peace of 
Amiens, 412; Napoleonic War 
Debt, 421; the Crimean War, 
431; Home Rule, 447. 

Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, 233. 

Fitz-Peter, Geoffrey, 108, 120. 

Five-Mile Act, 336. 

Flanders, loss of, 164; artisans 
from, 177. 

Flodden, battle of, 224. 

Forty-two Articles, 239. 

Fox, Chas. James, 403, 405, 406. 

France, war with, 117, 139, 156, 191, 
35 6 > 37°- 4"- 

Frederick of Prussia, 300, 398. 

Free Trade, 428, 458.' 

French Possessions, loss of, 195. 

French Revolution, the, 409; effect 
in England, 421, 422, 423; in 
1848, 429. 

Friar Movement, the, 124. 

Frobisher, 278. 

Fulton, 477. 

Gardiner, Bishop, 238, 240. 
Gaveston, Piers, 152. 
George I, 376-379- 
George II, 377, 380, 396. 



George III, 397, 398, 402. 

George IV, 423. 

Ghent, treaty of, 418. 

Gibraltar captured, 372, 405, 409. 

Gilbert, 279. 

Gilds, Merchants', 112; Craftgilds, 

179,181; decay of, 273; effect of, 

468. 
Gladstone, 434, 438, 439, 443, 444, 

447. 45 r » 45 2 - 
Glendower, Owen, 190. 
Gloucester, Duke of, 165, 194, 202. 
Godolphin, Lord, 371. 
Godwin, Earl of Wessex, 64. 
Gordon, General, 445. 
Goschen, 447. 
Goths, 28. 
Grafton, 401. 
Grand Assize, 98. 
Grand Remonstrance, the, 310. 
"Great Intercourse, the " (treaty), 

276. 
Great Schism, the, 172. 
Grenville, 398, 399, 400. 
Grey, Lady Jane, 240, 242. 
Grey, Lord, 410, 423, 424, 425, 449. 
Grosseteste, Bishop, 128, 129. 
Gunpowder Plot, 289. 

Habeas Corpus Act, 345, 410- 

Hadrian, 24. 

Hales, Sir Edmund, 349. 

Hampden, 311. 

Hampden Clubs, 422. 

Hardie, Keir, 460. 

Hargreaves, 468, 474. 

Harley, Earl of Oxford, 375. 

Harold, 63. 

Hartington, Lord, 447. 

Hastings, the Dane, raid of, 41-44- 

Hastings, battle of, 67. 

Hastings, Warren, 408. 

Hawkins, 278. 

Heads of the Proposals, 320. 

Hengist and Horsa, 30. 

Henry I, 76. 

Henry II, 03; condition of England, 

94; position on the continent, 95; 

pacification of England, 95. 
Henry III, the minority of, 123; rule 

of, 127. 



Index 



495 



Henry IV, 188. 

Henry V, 191; war with France, 

191-194. 
Henry VI, 194-200, 201. 
Henry VII, 213. 
Henry VIII, 219, 220. 
Heptarchy, 36. 
Hereford, Henry Bolingbroke, 

Duke of, 166. 
Hereward the Wake, 70. 
Hertford, Earl of, 237. 
Hobbes, 354. 
Holland, maritime growth of, 304; 

war with, 341, 401; commercial 

rivalry with, 355, 356; decline of, 

356- 
Home Rule Bill, 447. 
Honorius, 2S. 
Hooker, 284. 
Hotspur, 190. 
Howard, John, 386. 
Howe, Lord, 411. 
Hudson's Bay, acquisition of, 405. 
Hyde, 311. See Clarendon. 

Iberians, the, 12. 

Imperial Customs Union, 458. 

Important events, lists of, 54, 91, 
114, 146, 185, 210, 265, 331, 358, 
387, 418, 464. 

Independents, 314. 

India, 390, 392, 395, 398, 412; 
sketch of history, 39 1 ; Eastern 
Question, 430, 441; Sepoy Mu- 
tiny, 433 5 review, 442. 

India Bill, 406. 

Industry, industrial wealth, 4; early 
industry: 12; Roman, 23; Saxon, 
47,50; Norman, 89; progression, 
176, 268-274, 302, 327, 354, 379; 
Irish industry throttled, 412; im- 
portation of raw material from col- 
onies, 400; Berlin Decree, 415; 
fictitious prosperity, 421 ; Factory 
Act, 426; industrial revolution, 
467; inventions, 468, 469; capital 
•and labor, revolt of labor, 474; 
factory legislation, 475 ; factory 
commission, 476; Ten Hours 
Act, 476; transportation, 477; 
ship-building, 477; mining, 481; 



agricultural revolution, 482. See 
Gilds, Wages, Finance, Com- 
merce. 

Instrument of government, 324. 

Inventions, 46S-470, 473, 476, 480. 

Ionian Isles, 417. 

Ireland, industrial and physical fea- 
tures, 9; early affairs, 101 ; con- 
quest of, in the time of Henry II, 
102; under English rule, 103; 
under the Tudors, 260 ; revolt, 
309; conquest of, 321; repre- 
sentation accorded in Parliament, 
325; revolution against William 
III, 363; legislative independence 
granted, 405; attempt at com- 
mercial freedom, 407; union 
with England, 412-414; laws 
against Catholics in, 413; destruc- 
tion of industries in, 413; inde- 
pendent Irish parliament, 413, 
414; famines, 428, 437; review 
of affairs in, 436; Catholic eman- 
cipation, 444; disestablishment 
of Church, 438, 443, 447; 448; 
the Nationalists, 443 ; Land Act, 
444; National League, 448; 
Local Government Act, 452. 

Irish, 101, 103, 119, 215, 260, 302, 
3° 8 > 3°9, 3 3I > 353. ^t,, 380, 412, 
437- 

Irish Land Act, 439, 444. 

Ironsides, 315. 

Jacobites, 361, 368, 377, 393, 397. 

Jamaica, acquisition of, 356. 

James I, 286. 

James II, 347, 353. 3 62 > 365. 369. 
37i- 

Jameson, 456. 

Jeffreys, Judge, 348. 

Jesuits, 246, 257, 353. 

Jews, under royal protection, 81; 
banished by Edward I, 134; re- 
turn of, 329. 

Joan of Arc, 195. 

Johannesburg, 456. 

John, revolt of, against Henry II, 
106; against Richard I, 108; ac- 
cession, 116; revolt of barons 
against, 120, 121; death, 123. 



496 



Index 



John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, 

164, 173. 183. 
Julius Cffisar, 19. 
Junto, the, 369, 370. 
Jury system, 98. 
Jutes, 28. 

Kaffir War, 445. 

Kay, John, 468, 474. 

Ket the tanner, 239. 

Khartoum, 445, 455. 

Killiecrankie, battle of, 366. 

King William's War, 368. 

King's Bench, 133. 

Kingsley, 485. 

Kitchener, Sir Herbert, 455, 457. 

Knox, John, 251. 

Kruger, Paul, 456. 

Labor, revolt of, 474. See Com- 
merce, Industry, Finance. 

Labouchere, 450. 

Labourers' Dwellings Act, 443. 

La Hogue, battle of, 368. 

Lancaster, Duke of. See John of 
Gaunt. 

Lancaster, Thomas, Earl of, 152, 
164, 202. 

Land Act, 439; Irish, 444. 

Land Purchase Act, 459. 

Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, 85. 

Langland, William, 168, 169. 

Langton, Stephen, 120, 122, 123; 
death of, 128. 

Latimer, Bishop, 207, 227, 241, 

2 43- 

Laud, Bishop, 300, 302, 308. 

Law, in England, under the Romans, 
21-23; under the Anglo-Saxons, 
33, 44,45; Edgar's, 53, 54, 63, 72; 
under William I, 72, 73; under 
William Rufus, 74, 76; under 
Henry I, 76; reforms of the, 
under Henry of Anjou, 97, 98; 
the Great Charter, 121; develop- 
ment of, under Edward I, 132; 
the Ordinances of the time of Ed- 
ward II, 153-155; regulation of 
wages and labor by, 180-182, 217; 
strengthened by Henry VII, 217; 



the new order under Elizabeth, 
279-282; religious issues under 
James, 287; Charles, 306-310; 
the Commonwealth, 321 ; Charles 
II, 333-336; the Revolution cf 
1688, 353; its results, 360-363; 
William III, 363-365; corrup- 
tion of the times of George I, 3^5 ; 
refcrm movement of 1770-1784, 
402; of 1815, 421-429; of 1832, 
432; more recent important 
changes in, 442-448; in church 
matters, 172, 189, 227, 230, 232, 
237. 2 43. 248, 256, 290, 298, 300, 
3° 6 - 3° 8 , 3 1 3> 328, 324, 338, 340, 
35 r . 3 6l -3 6 5. 43 6 -438- See also 
Act, Statute, etc. 

Leicester, Earl of, 254, 259. See 
Montfort. 

Levellers, the, 328. 

Lewes, battle of, 131. 

Liberal party, 426. 

Licensing Act, 369. 

Limerick, treaty of, 365, 412. 

Lincoln, battle of, 79. 

Literature, under Alfred, 45; under 
Henry I, So, 109; thirteenth 
century, 144; revival, 166-171; 
printing, 209; renaissance, 2S3; 
at close of seventeent'i century, 
354; liberty of the press, 369; 
Swift, 380. See Bi' le. 

Llewelyn, 136. 

Local Government Act, 448; Irish, 

447. 45 1 - 
Locke, 354. 

Lollards, the, 176, 182, 189, 204. 
London, 18; charter granted, 91; 

fire of, 337; charter confiscated, 

346. 
Longchamp, William, Bishop, 107. 
Lord Marchers, the, 69, 190. 
Lords Appellant, 165, 188, 202. 
Lords of the Congregation, 250. 
Lords Ordainers, the, 153. 
Lowe, Robert, 435. 
Lowestoft, battle of, 336. 
Lud, god of commerce, iS. 
Luddites, the, 474. 
Luneville, treaty of, 412. 
Luther, Martin, 226, 229, 



Index 



497 



Mahdist Revolt, 445. 

Mahratta War, 407. 

Malcolm of Scotland, 70. 

Malmesbury, William of, no. 

Malplaquet battle of, 373. 

Malta, 414, 417. 

Manchester Massacre, 423. 

Manwaring, 300. 

Mar, Earl of, 378. 

Marchand, 455. 

Margaret of Anjou, 196-200. 

Maria Theresa, 392. 

Marlborough. See Churchill. 

Marston Moor, battle of, 314. 

Mary Stuart, 233, 237, 249, 251, 256, 
259, 260. 

Mary, Queen, 239, 240. 

Matilda, 76, 

Mauritius. 417. 

Mercenaries, 63, 79, 95, 104, 121, 
122, 392. 

Millenary Petition, 288. 

Milton, 329, 354. 

Miners' Federation, 481. 

Minorca, acquisition of, 375; ces- 
sion of, 405. 

Mise of Amiens, 131. 

Monasteries, suppression of, 230. 

Monk, General, 329. 

Monmouth, Duke of, 345, 348. 

Montague, 300, 369. 

Montfort, Simon de, 129, 132, 202. 

Montrose, 316. 

Montserrat, acquisition of, 295. 

More, Sir Thomas, 233. 

Mortimer, Roger, 155. 

Mortimer. See Cade, Jack. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, 411, 412, 414; 

Berlin Decree, 415; Peninsular 

War, 416. 
Naseby, battle of, 316. 
Natal, 445. 

Nationalists, 443, 446, 449, 451. 
National League, 448. 
Navigation Act, 327, 356. 
Navy, 43, 209, 260, 270, 274, 304, 

320, 326, 336, 355, 395, 412; after 

Trafalgar, 417; War cf 1 8 1 2 , 4 1 7 ; 

demonstration at Constantinople, 

44i. 



Nelson, Lord, 327, 403, 415. 

Neville, George, Archbishop, 204. 

Newcastle, Duke of, 392, 394, 400. 

Newcastle Propositions, the, 318. 

Newfoundland, 405. 

Newspapers, 369. 

Newton, Sir Isaac, 369. 

New Zealand, 459. 

Nile, battle of, 412. 

Nonjurors, 363. 

Non-resistance, doctrine of, 335, 351, 

3Q 2 - 

Norfolk, Duke of, 256. 

Norman Conquest, 67; social result 
of, 79; intellectual results, 82; life 
of people under, 86; administra- 
tion of local government, 89. 

Normandy, 57; less cf, 117, 196. 

North, Lord, 401, 405, 406. 408. 

Northampton, battle of, 200. 

North Briton, the, 399. 

Northmen, 56-57, 102. 

Northumberland, the dukes of, 239 
256. 

Nova Scotia, 375, 405, 409 

Oates, Titus, 344. 

Occasional Conformity Act, 376. 

O'Connell, Daniel, 436. 

O'Connor, Feargus, 429. 

Odo, Bishop, 75. 

Omdurman, battle of, 455. 

O'Neill, Shane, 262. 

"Open door," the, to Chinese 

Empire, 455- 
Orders in Council, the, 416, 417. 
Ordinances, the, 153; repealed, 155. 
Oudenarde, battle of, 372. 
Owen, Robert, 476. 

Paleolithic Man, n. 

Palmerston, Lord, 430, 431, 432. 

Pandulf, 120. 

Paris, peace of, 398; treaty of, 432. 

Parliament, first use of the name of, 
129; of Oxford, or the Mad Par- 
liament, 130; cf 1265, 131; Model 
Parliament, T42; organization of, 
Houses of Lords and Commons, 
162; Good Parliament, 163, 172; 
the Merciless Parliament, 165; 



498 



Index 



first use of English in, 167; Long 
Parliament, 229; under Eliza- 
beth, 264; Addled Parliament, 
291; Short Parliament, 306; 
Long Parliament, 307, 324, 326, 
338; Rump Parliament, 321, 328; 
Barebones' Parliament, 324; re- 
distribution of seats, 324; Con- 
vention Parliament, 2>1>7> > Cava- 
lier Parliament, 334, 338; Tory 
Parliament, 348; Disabling Act, 
344; under William III, 360; 
Dublin Parliament, 365; Whig 
ministry, 368; Tory ministry, 
370; union with Scotland, 374; 
review to fall of Walpole, 382; 
political corruption, 385, 402 ; 
reform, 402, 405, 406, 410, 420; 
jurisdiction over India, 396; the 
Radical Party, 422; Reform Bill, 
423 ; its effect, 425 ; reform under 
Disraeli, 433, 435; extension of 
suffrage, 435, 444, 486; Catholic 
emancipation, 436; secret ballot, 
439; closure adopted, 433. See 
Witan and Curia Regis. 
Parnell, Charles Stewart, 443, 446, 

45i- 
Patrick, St., 53, 53. 
Pauperism and its relief, 280, 426, 

486; poor law, 426, 486. 
Peel, Sir Robert, 428, 437, 447, 471, 

474, 475- 
Pelham, Henry, 392, 394. 
Pembroke, William Marshall, Earl 

of, 123. 
Penda, 33 . 

Peninsular War, 416. 
Pennsylvania settled, 356. 
People's Charter, 427, 430. 
Perrers, Alice, 163. 
Petition and Advice, the, 326. 
Petition of Right, 298, 301. 
Philip of Spain, 242. 
Philiphaugh, battle of, 316. 
Philippines, 398. 
Phoenicians, 16. 
Picts, 21, 26. 

Pilgrimage of Grace, the, 234. 
Pinkie, battle of, 237. 
Pitt, William, 394, 395, 39S, 402. | 



Pitt, William, the younger, son of 
above, 406, 407, 408, 410, 412, 
414, 43 6 - 

Plague, the, 336-337. 

"Plan of Campaign," 448. 

Plassey, battle of, 396. 

Plautius, 19, 20. 

Poitiers, battle of, 160. 

Pondicherry, surrender of, 396. 

Poor Law, 426, 487. See Pauper- 
ism. 

Popes : Gregory VII, 85 ; Innocent 
III, 118; England and the Pope, 
128; Innocent IV, 128, 130; re- 
volt of Europe against, 213. 

Popish Plot, 343. 

Porte, 442. 

Poyning, Sir Edward, 260. 

Prehistoric inhabitants, n. 

Presbyterianism, 257. 

Preston, battles of, 320, 378. 

Pretenders, the: James Edward, 
371, 372, 376, 378; Charles Ed- 
ward, 393. 

Pride's Purge, 320. 

Prime Minister, first, 383. 

Prison reform, 386, 409. 

Privateering, 278. 

Protector, the, 324. 

Provisions of Oxford, 131. 

Pularoon relinquished, 356. 

Puritans, 256, 263, 287, 288, 301, 
3°3< 3 T 4, 3 2S > 347- 

Pym, John, 291, 307, 310, 314, 333 . 

Quakers, 335. 
Quebec, fall of, 390, 396. 
"Queen Anne's War," 390. 
Quiberon, battle of, 396. 

Radical party, the, 422. 

Railroads, 472, 478. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 278, 279, 294. 

Ramillics, battle of, 372. 

Rand, 456, 458. 

Ranulf, the justiciar, 74-76. 

Redmond, John, 457, 460. 

Reform Bill, of 1832, 423, 424, 425; 

Act of, 1867, 435; of 1884, 444; 

movement, 1779, 420, 444. 
Reformation, the Protestant, 3, 226. 



Index 



499 



Regulating Act, 408. 

Reign of Terror in France, 400. 

Renaissance, the English, 3, 283. 

Restoration of the Stuarts, 329. 

Revolt of the barons, 103; peasants, 
175-181; under Glendower, 190; 
under Oldcastle, 191; Cade's, 
198; the Pilgrimage of Grace, 
234; under Ket, 239; Wyatt's, 
242; Irish peasants, 413; Chart- 
ist, 429; Fenian, 438; the Lud- 
dites, 474. 

Revolution, French, 3, 409. 

Rhodes, Cecil, 456. 

Rich, Edmund, 129. 

Richard de Clare, Strongbow, 102. 

Richard I, 107; a crusader, 107, 
108; influence in England of, 
108, 109. 

Richard II, 164. 

Richard III, 202. 

Richmond, Duke of, 404. 

Richmond, Henry Tudor, Earl of, 
203. 

Ridley, Bishop, 243. 

Ridolfi plot, the, 256. 

Rizzio, 252. 

Robert, Duke of Normandy, 74-77. 

Robin of Redesdale, 201. 

Roches, Peter des, B'shop, 127. 

Rochester, Earl of, 349. 

Rockingham, Lord, 398-401, 405, 
4i3- 

Rockingham Ministry, the, 401, 405. 

Rodney, 405. 

Rollo the Ganger, 59, 63. 

Romans, the, conquest of Britain by, 
19, 21 ; the gains of Britain under 
the rule of, 23 ; losses, 25 ; colonies 
of, 20; colonial life of, 23; roads 
of, 23. 

Rosebery, Lord, 451. 

Roundheads, 310, 311. 

Rupert, Prince, 313. 

Russell, Admiral, 368, 369. 

Russell, Lord, 347, 423, 426, 434. 

Rye House plot, 346. 

Ryswick, peace of, 368. 

Sacheverell, Doctor, 373. 
St. Albans, battle of, 198. 



St. Helena, 356. 

St. John, Henry, 372, 376. 

Salic law, 156. 

Salisbury, Lord, 445, 446, 448, 451, 
4S 2 - 455. 457. 45 8 . 460. 

Salisbury oath, the, 73, 74. 

Saxons, the invasion of Britain by, 
26; conquest, the, 28; effects of 
conquest by, 32. 

Schism Act, 376. 

Scotland, industrial and physical 
features, 8; conquered by William 
I, 70; revolt against Edward I, 
139; conquest of, 140-144; loss 
of, 153; revolt against Henry IV, 
190; defeat at Solway Mess, 235; 
at Pinkie, 237; revolt against 
France, 250; against Charles I, 
306; royalist invasion, 320; in- 
vasion of, 323; representation ac- 
corded in Parliament, 325; revo- 
lution against William III, 365; 
union with England, 374; Jaco- 
bite insurrection, 378; second 
Jacobite insurrection, 393; Local 
Government Act, 448, 452; Croft- 
ers' agitation, 448. 

Scots, 8, 21, 26, 69, 97, 104, 119, 137, 
143. 153, l8 9. 216, 224, 235, 237, 
249, 3° 6 > 3U, 3 l6 > 320, 348, 365. 

Scrope, Archbishop of York, 190. 

Scutage, 104. 

Sebastopol, fall of, 432. 

Second Hundred Years' War, 389. 

Sedgemoor, battle of, 348. 

Self-denying ordinance, 315. 

Sepoys, 394, 396, 407. 

Septennial Act, 378. 

Serfs, 34, 50, 86, 88, 90, 180-184. 
See Villeins. 

Seven Years' War, 390, 394, 396. 

Shaftesbury, Earl of, 342, 345. 

Shakespeare, 284. 

Shelburne, Lord, 405. 

Shelley, 422. 

Sheridan, 408; 412. 

Sheriff muir, battle of, 378. 

Simnel, Lambert, 215. 

Slave trade, 53, 89, 375, 386, 426. 

Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 
453- 



500 



Index 



Society of Jesus, 246. 

Solemn League and Covenant, 313. 

Solway Moss, battle of, 235. 

Somers, 369. 

Somerset, dukes of, 197, 198, 237, 

238. 
Somerset, Earl of, 291. 
Sophia, Electress cf Hanover, 370. 
Soudan insurrection, 445, 455. 
"South Sea Bubble," 379. 
Spenser, 284. 

Stamford Bridge, battle of, 67. 
Stamp Act, 400; repealed, 401. 
Stanhope, 378, 381. 
Star Chamber, Court cf, 216, 292, 

3 OI > 3°3> 3° 8 - 

Statutes of, Mortmain, 133; Quia 
Emptores, 133; Winchester, 133 
Wales, 136; Praemunire, 172 
Provisors, 172; of Labourers, 181 
against Heretics, 189-191; Main- 
tenance and Livery, 206, 21S. 

Steamboats, 472, 477, 478. 

Stephen, 77. 

Stephenson, George, 478. 

Stoke, battle of, 215. 

Stourbridge Fair, 113. 

Strafford, Earl cf. See Wentworth. 

Sunderland, Earl of, 349, 378. 

Swift, Jonathan, 375, 380. 

Sydney, Algernon, 347. 

Symington, William, 477. 

Taxation, the right of, 149; first 

regular levy on personal property, 

109. See Finance. 
Ten Articles, 232. 
Ten Hours Act, 476. 
Test Act, the, 256, 2S9, 341, 349, 

35°. 444- 
Teutons, 28. 

Tewkesbury, battle of, 201. 
Thegns, 33, 52, 205. 
Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop, 36. 
Thirty-nine Articles, 256, 2<o. 
Thirty Years' War, 294, 327, 356. 
Tinchebrai, battle of, 77. 
Tories, 346, 361; the "fourth 

party," 445- 
Tower of London, the, 71, 76. 
Townshend import duties, 401. 



Townshends, the, 377. 
Towton Field, battle of, 200. 
Trades Union Act, 475. 
Trafalgar, battle of, 415, 417. 
Transvaal Republic, 445, 456, 

458. 
Trial by ordeal, 98. 
Triennial Bill, 308, 370, 378. 
Triple Alliance, the, 340, 379. 
Troyes, treaty of, 193. 
Tyndale, William, 228. 
Tyxconnel, 364. 
Tyrone, Earl of, 262, 302. 

"Ulster Right," 439. 

Union, Act of, 405 ; of England and 

Scotland, 374. 
Unitarians, 364. 
Unity of Early England, the, 35-37; 

attainment of ecclesiastical, 35; 

postponement of political, 36. 
Utrecht, treaty of, 375, 378, 379, 

3 81 . 405. 

Vandals, 28. 

Vane, Sir Henry, 327, 333. 

Vasco da Gama, 390. 

Versailles, treaty of, 405. 

Victoria, Jubilee, 449; Diamond 
Jubilee, 453; Empress of India, 
442; death of, 457. 

Vienna, Congress of, 444. 

Vikings, the, 38; a ship of, 40; 
repulsed by Alfred, 43 ; migrations 
of, 56; settlements of, 57; in Nor- 
mandy, 57-59; in England, 60- 
63. 

Villeins, 88, 122, 182. See Serfs. 

Virginia, settlement of, 295. 

Wages, 181, 207, 269, 355, 421, 474, 
475. 481, 485. 

Wakefield, battle of, 200. 

Wales, industrial and physical fea- 
tures, area, 7, 8; conquered by 
Ethelflaeda, 47; conquest of, 134; 
revolt against Edward I, 139; re- 
volt under Glendower, 190; insur- 
rection, 320; Local Government 
Act, 448, 45 2 - 

Wales, Statute of, 136. 



Index 



501 



Wallace, William, 143. 
Wallingford, Treaty of, 79, 95, 

109. 
Walpole, Sir Robert, 378, 379, 382, 

392, 400. 
Walter, Hubert, Archbishop, 108, 

118. 
Wandewash, battle of, 396. 
War of the Austrian succession, 390, 

39 2 > 394- 
War of the Spanish Succession, 371, 

39°- 

Warbeck, Perkin, 215. 

Wars of the Rcses, 198; political re- 
volts, 202 ; resultant state of coun- 
try, 203. 

Warwick, earls of, 198, 200, 201, 
204, 239. 

Wat Tyler, 182. 

Waterloo, battle of, 417. 

Watt, James, 469, 477, 481. 

Wedmore, Treaty of, 41. 

Wellesley. See Wellington. 

Wellington, Duke of, 412, 416, 423, 
425, 429, 437. 

Welsh, 31, 34, 37- 6 9» 97. 102 > IX 9> 
134, 139. !43» IQ °. 3 20 - 

Wentworth, Sir Thomas, 291, 298, 
301, 305, 306, 307. 

Wesley, John, 386. 



Westminster Abbey, 69. 

Westmoreland, Earl of, 256. 

Wharton, 369. 

Whigs, 346, 361. 

Whitfield, 386. 

Whittington, Sir Richard, 209. 

Wiclif, John, 173. 

Wilkes, John, 394, 399- 

William I, 69. 

William II, 74. 

William of Orange, 341, 343. 35 1 . 

353. 37i- 
William IV, 423- 
Winchester, Statute of, 133. 
Witan or Witenagemot, 62, 66, 72, 

Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal, 222, 226, 
227, 229. 

Woodstock, Council of, 99. 

Worcester, battle of, 323. 

Wordsworth, 422. 

Workmen's Compensation for Ac- 
cident Act, 453. 

Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 242. 

York, dukes of, 197, 198, 200, 342- 

343- 
Yorktown, surrender of, 405. 
Young, Arthur, 483. 
Young Patriots, 382, 395. 



n 



F bJJCP 



Hi 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS | 



021 953 616 1 



IBs 

■■P 



IIIHil 



enfi 



■1 



lilll 

■■ur 

hiiIhHHHi 

oh 



iin 



